Coraggio Consulting
Fairfax County School Board Meeting, Thursday, August 31, 2023

Date: Thursday, August 31, 2023
Place: Fairfax County School Board, Virginia
Length: 3h 0m (video)
Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7XCW1QhGoI
Official School Board page (FCPS): https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/leadership/school-board

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-11-03. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:51] This August 31st, 2023, regular meeting of the Fairfax County School Board will now come to order. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a moan of silence and a performance of the National Anthem.

[00:01:11] In order to comply with Section 2.2-3712D of the Code of Virginia,

[00:03:59] it is necessary for the Board to certify that since the Fairfax County School Board convened a closed meeting on August 31st, 2023, To the best of each member's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered by the board during the closed meeting.

[00:04:25] Do I have a motion? Dr. Anderson? Is there a second? Ms. Keyes-Gamara? All those in favor? Ms. Corbett-Sanders, Dr. Anderson, Ms. McLaughlin, Ms. Bogarski, myself, Mr. Frisch, Ms. Keyes-Gamara, Ms. Maris.

[00:04:46] Thank you. I call Mr. Frisch for a motion. Madam Chair, I move that the board authorize legal counsel to take all necessary steps to join in multi-district litigation pending against social media companies in the Northern District of California, including the filing of a complaint in that litigation according to the terms and conditions discussed in closed session. Is there a second? I'll second. All those in favor? Ms. Cora Sanders, Dr. Anderson, Ms. McLaughlin, Ms. McCarsky, myself, Mr.

[00:06:03] Mr. Frisch, Ms. Keese-Gamara, Ms. Marin, and Ms. Omeche. That's everyone at the table. Motion number two, I call in Ms. Corisanders for a motion. Madam Chair, I move that the board authorize settlement with Altria and related entities in Fairfax County Public Schools versus Juul Labs, Inc.

[00:06:25] Case number 322, CV 4311, according to the terms and conditions discussed with legal counsel in closed session. Is there a second? Ms. McLaughlin, all those in favor? Ms. Colbert Sanders, Dr. Anderson, Ms. McLaughlin, Ms. Pekarski, myself, Mr. Frisch, Ms. Keyes-Gamara, Ms. Maron, and Ms. Amache.

[00:06:50] Thank you. Agenda Item 2.04, Announcements. Ms. Seizmerheiser has submitted a written request to virtually attend this evening's meeting due to a personal conflict. All those in favor of approving Ms. Seizmerheiser's request.

[00:07:05] Ms. Kurt Sanders, Dr. Anderson, Ms. McLaughlin, Ms. Warkarski, myself, Mr. Frisch, Ms. Keyes-Gamara, Ms. Marin, and Ms. Amash. That is unanimous for those at the table. Ms. Seisberheiser, would you like to test your microphone?

[00:07:23] Sure, thank you very much. Can you guys hear me? Yes, we can hear you. Thank you. Thank you for participating. If you would like to review a copy of the agenda and any agenda item that is being discussed tonight, That information may be found at the back of the auditorium or on the website at fcps.edu/schoolboard/boarddocs.

[00:07:45] Tonight's meeting is being broadcast on Channel 99 and live streamed on the website at fcps.edu/tv/Channel99. After reading tonight's proclamations, the Board would like to invite each recipient and their family and friends to join us for a photo.

[00:08:04] agenda item 2.05 the larry bussey naming proclamation i call on ms keys gamara for a proclamation thank you whereas dr larry bussey began his law lifelong commitment to education diversity and equity as a teacher in the new york city public school system where he taught art to the city's youth before bringing his passion for ensuring equal access to quality education to our nation's youth to the us department of education's office of civil rights serving over

[00:08:40] 30 years as an enforcement officer conducting the program officers officers core work of identifying preventing and resolving acts of discrimination against our nation's students and whereas dr bussey was a founding member of the first minority student achievement joint committee an ad hoc committee established by fairfax county public schools in 1992 that developed an action plan and made recommendations that included a re-examination of curriculum modification of administrative structures and improved outreach to parents and whereas the school board adopted a

[00:09:19] revision to fcps policy 1710.3 and designated the minority student achievement oversight committee or msaoc as a standing school board advisory committee in july 1993 and whereas dr bussey served as msaoc co-chair through the 1995-1996 school year as a community representative or staff liaison for msaoc under six superintendents from its creation until his death in 2022 and

[00:09:54] And whereas, to support comprehensive family outreach and engagement, Dr. Busse spearheaded the creation of the Parent Advocacy Handbook, which distributed 15,000 paperback copies and is currently available in multiple languages and online.

[00:10:11] And whereas, very few, if any, have shown a greater long-term commitment to minority student achievement and parent and family engagement in Fairfax County Public Schools than Dr. Lawrence Bussey. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Fairfax County School Board directs Superintendent Reed to name the library located within the Family Resource Center the Dr. Larry Bussey Family and Community Library as a lasting legacy of Dr. Bussey's commitment to educate and equip families to effectively advocate

[00:10:49] for the educational rights and needs of their children. I so move. Is there a second? Ms. Cora Sanders. Ms. Keyes-Gamara, would you like to speak to your proclamation? I certainly would.

[00:11:09] So, more than six years ago, when I was just planning to run for the school board, those who I trusted told me, if you want to understand FCPS and you really want to make a difference, talk to Dr. Bussey.

[00:11:25] He has been and was a guiding light. He was always concerned about every student, having an opportunity to achieve excellence. Prior to coming to FCPS, he worked for the Department of Education, where he worked intricately with policy decisions to try to affect real change.

[00:11:46] He was also heavily involved in his community in Reston, Virginia. He and his wife worked together to develop classes to support fathers so that they would become more involved in the lives of their children and particularly the educational process. He supported programs like that in Chantilly where they developed a tutoring program to achieve greater student success and he worked with parents to make sure that they were the effectors of change in the lives of their children. He supported art programs for students and he was a

[00:12:22] former assistant principal and he provided a strong voice in the development of the one Fairfax policy. I always knew Dr. Busse as the data man. He was not one to just try to shake things up, but he would take you to the numbers which he had meticulously analyzed to help us understand where improvements could be made. His dissertation, I mean his MSAOC reports, always helped us to know that we could do better. It was in the numbers, but perhaps most importantly

[00:13:00] when I want to make sure we honor him today is this, that all of the education, all of his actions, all of the community advocacy was driven by an incredibly kind heart. He epitomized the saying, I am my brother's keeper.

[00:13:20] He was willing to carry the weight of others to improve the next generation. And for that, we are so very grateful. He was a very special person, highly educated, dedicated to service, But to his family, he was dad or papa.

[00:13:38] It is with great pleasure that I support this proclamation and make this motion to rename the library within the Parent Resource Center in honor of Dr. Bussey, whose character has been a light to us and will continue to be because of his work.

[00:13:56] It is more than appropriate. So I say to his family, thank you for lending him to us for all of these years, and let's get this done. Ms. Covers-Handrus, would you like to speak to your second?

[00:14:13] Yes, thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Ms. Keyes-Gamara, for allowing me to second this. One of the reasons I wanted to second this motion was because of the incredible, inspirational man that Dr. Bussey was.

[00:14:31] His kindness, his wisdom, his advocacy, and his forward-looking approach to life. But more importantly, I also wanted to be part of this proclamation because of the location that we are renaming.

[00:14:48] It is so appropriate because Dr. Bussey was the most family-centered person that I know. And he knew that the key to a student's success was centering the families around that student and ensuring the parents and families had the resources necessary to ensure their family's success and their student's success.

[00:15:14] And so to name this resource library after him is a very important first step. It's also important because when we do namings, it's so that people are inspired by the name.

[00:15:31] And there is no greater inspiration in Fairfax County Public Schools under six superintendents and countless thousands of students than Dr. Larry Bussey. And so I am thrilled to support this, and I ask all of my colleagues to let's make this unanimous and honor a man who honored so many of our children by being there for them and paying it forward.

[00:16:04] Are there other board members that would wish to speak? Madam Chair, my light must not be working. I turned it on. Yes, unfortunately our lights are not working.

[00:16:22] Ms. McLaughlin, please. Thank you. I not only want to echo the beautiful words by Ms. Keith Gamara and Ms. Corbett Sanders, but for those who have known me during my 12-year tenure, I am known for being the data girl.

[00:16:40] I walk into a room and I want to have the hard, tough conversations that we not only talk about how we want to close gaps, but how are we actually going to close gaps. So when I was appointed as the school board member to be the liaison to the MSAOC, I had the great privilege of getting to work with Dr. Bussey.

[00:17:03] And alongside one of our longest serving MSAOCO chairs, George Becerra, who I see here tonight, we would meet often after those meetings to talk deeply about the data and how do we get the school division to really dive deep into what this was going to mean.

[00:17:24] Because you can have a goal and a commitment, but if you're not going to move the needle, then the words without the actions aren't going to achieve what you're going to achieve. And so something that I just wanted to make sure was really captured here tonight was that not only was Dr. Bussey an incredibly kind, joyous person, but he was also a very serious and substantive advocate for our students in this school division and so he was an inspiration to me I couldn't be more happy and more honored to get to vote tonight where we can honor him and his

[00:18:00] legacy his tremendous legacy here in Fairfax County Schools he is emblematic of why Fairfax County Schools continues to strengthen and improve because of the citizens in our community who care so deeply about making sure that all children succeed.

[00:18:20] And that was Dr. Bassi. Thank you. Ms. Amesh. Thank you. I want to start by thanking my colleague Ms. Keith Gamara for elevating this and uplifting a man who my first impression of was really an unsung hero. I remember, you know, I was on MSAOC as liaison twice. And when I first participated, I noticed that various committees have official staff liaisons.

[00:18:51] Generally, they're more senior in their department. And here was, you know, Larry Bussey sitting there devoting hours and hours of his time over years, what would have now been 20 years, giving his heart, his intellect to this committee, which, you know, is with much frustration, right, about where we are and where we're headed and the opportunity gap that hasn't been closed for more than 10 years or in the same place, but this man who was able to weather it with patience, with wisdom, and continue to give when I think many would have otherwise given up or moved away

[00:19:28] or been overwhelmed by frustration to just give up on the work. So I am tremendously honored to be a part of recognizing this today and really continuing the legacy of Larry Bussey and making sure that it's uplifted. And of course, that's no surprise that he was so devoted to his love for education and educating and fighting for civil rights from the Department of Education and his work and onto MSCOC and where he ultimately rested, serving this community and this school system.

[00:20:01] So, again, thank you, Ms. Keith Gamara, for bringing this forward, and I hope that we continue to celebrate his legacy, which extended beyond FCPS even in testimonies that you can read online of him at the police commission and whatnot, speaking up for justice, but something that hopefully all our students can look up to and learn from and what they bring forward to our community in the future.

[00:20:23] Thank you. Seeing no other board members that would like to speak, I'm happy to move this forward. I would like to call for the vote. All those in favor? Ms. Keyes-Gamara, Dr. Anderson, Ms. McLaughlin, Ms. Fikarski, myself.

[00:20:45] Did I miss you, Ms. Corbett Sanders? Sorry. Mr. Frisch and Ms. Keyes-Gamara, of course, and Ms. Marin and Ms. Amash. That is unanimous. And Ms. Seismar-Hyser.

[00:21:03] Thank you. Thank you. I would like to invite family members. At this point, I would like to invite family members, staff, and community members who are here this evening in support of Dr. Bussey's proclamation to please join the board for a photo in front of the dais.

[00:27:11] Okay, agenda item 3.01, community participation. We welcome all community members who are here and those who signed up to speak this evening. Community members can sign up to provide comments at school board regular business meetings and public hearings on the school board's website.

[00:27:30] At regular business meetings, speakers may address any school-related issue except those that have been scheduled for public hearings such as the Capital Improvement Program, Budget, and Boundaries. Comments targeting, criticizing, or attacking individual students are not permitted during public meetings.

[00:27:51] Complaints regarding school-based employees should be directed to the appropriate school principal or other school officials. Speakers should not use personally identifiable information in connection with an individual student or school-based employee. Additionally, speakers should be respectful and observe proper decorum in their statements, avoiding profanity, inappropriate gestures, shouting, and comments that run counter to the spirit and letter of the school division's non-discrimination policy, which protects students and staff from discrimination based on age, race, color, sex, sexual orientation,

[00:28:28] gender identity, religion, national origin, marital status, or disability. Speakers must limit their remarks to no more than two minutes, direct their comments to the school board, and should remain at the podium until concluding their remarks.

[00:28:47] Additionally, only the speaker may stand at the podium. They may not be joined by others. Speaker substitutions are not permitted. A speaker may not yield their time to another individual. At the conclusion of two minutes, the microphone or video will be turned off.

[00:29:03] School board members will be listening but not responding. We ask audience members to be respectful of one another. Shouting and outbursts will not be tolerated. Audience members should hold their applause until the conclusion of a speaker's remarks and remain at their seats, including when video recording or taking photos.

[00:29:24] We are grateful for those who have come to speak to us today and thank you for your cooperation. Madam Clerk, please call our first speaker. Stacey Langton. Sir, if you're taking a video, you need to be in your seat.

[00:29:56] Thank you. I'm Stanley Langton and my pronouns are he, him. Thank you for not following the governor's model policies. It's appreciated by AGP men like me. that stands for autogynophile, a fetish, which means men who get aroused by being in women's spaces. It's a great thing that now boys can show their junk to girls in locker rooms and bathrooms at school. I do love the feel of silk panties against my skin. Now how about this? Good evening.

[00:30:30] I wanted to let you all know that I have discovered that I'm racially fluid. My former school board candidate Stephanie Longquist-Aurora wrote a book that says racial fluidity is a thing according to the left. She says some people are trapped in the wrong body and I think that is my problem. I'm not really a white woman. I'm actually an eastern Indian woman. So Mama Grizzly would now like for you to call me Indira and as for the rest of it, you know, I'll figure it out later. In the 80s, Corporal Klinger on M.A.S.H. was wearing a dress and high heels to be declared section 8 and get sent home

[00:31:05] from the war. To dress like a woman if you're a man was considered mental illness, but today U.S. Education Secretary Cardona said limiting porn in schools is limiting knowledge. He's pushing kids into gender dysphoria, a mental illness so profound it causes the bizarre desire to cut off their genitals. Everybody knows Youngkin's model policies should be implemented. Everybody knows the school board is required to implement them, but this board chooses which recommendations to follow or not. When removal of masks from our kids was recommended, you did not implement

[00:31:41] it. Yunkin had to pass a law to force you all to do the right thing. Asra Namani says I'm unwell and bipolar. Well, if I said I was a man or an Indian woman, you would all probably agree with her. Yet you want the same people in society to join the delusion of a handful of mentally ill children. We will win this war and save America. God wins.

[00:32:05] Peter Penn. Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the board. I appreciate the opportunity to speak tonight and do appreciate your tireless work for Fairfax County Schools.

[00:32:25] A few weeks ago, a friend of mine had told me that recently she had the pleasure of meeting somebody that had immigrated from Ethiopia a few years ago with her two children. She had some concerns, and one of the greatest concerns was that she was afraid her children would be bullied in school because of the way they looked, the way they spoke, and even the way they dressed.

[00:32:46] She learned to trust that there was actually good policies in our county public school system and the people to help them if this became a reality. But she said she had developed an even greater fear for this past year and that there were policies being put into place that could keep her from knowing about the challenges of her children that they may be facing and that they could be put on a life-altering path without her knowledge.

[00:33:11] What struck me is that this woman's trust in the school system, our school system, had been broken. How could it be, if not, if a policy allowed someone to conceal something about their child from them, even if it was believed to be for a good reason? The virtue of trust is now being broken in front of our children, is also being taught to them as a lesson.

[00:33:34] We face another challenge with the Regulation 2603, and let me explain. There is an important research from the University of Chicago that is mentioned in the policy that discusses the risks to individuals associated with transgender issues. However, there is also new research out there as well that points to the risks to our children in moving forward with this policy, and parents need to see this and hear this as well.

[00:33:58] Dr. Paul McHugh, who was the psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins for 26 years, did a tremendous amount of research in this area and said, paraphrasing him, addressing the issues in this area is best done in family therapy. If we fail to account for the long-term risks and the role of the community, and especially the involvement of the parents we stand then george becerra you can um give any your written

[00:34:32] recommendations to our clerk if you'd like them to be given to the board george becerra linda pellegrino evening school board my name is linda pellegrino i'm from mason district the three basic purposes of course you know in the educational system is very simple first while our

[00:35:09] children are in your custody and FCPS must protect the children and keep them safe they should be aware of people who are bullying or possible traffic human traffickers there should not be settlements of five hundred and eighty seven hundred thousand dollars that they should be protecting the children to identify these aggressors secondly the focus in FCPS needs to be on high quality academic curriculum there needs to be transparency of what is being

[00:35:47] taught respect for parental rights and needs honored of the children that belong to us the parents FCPS is accountable the taxpayers and the parents in raising our children they are the future of America FCPS serves the children and taxpayers and while I was serving on the community action advisory board that advises the Board of Supervisors on spending priorities. I represented the low-income and minority communities. One of the things I learned while serving on that was that there

[00:36:24] were partnerships between companies and the government. And in the same way that CAB partnered with private industry, I think the school boards should partner with the parents. Anytime parental involvement is active, there is much more academic achievement. Thank you very much

[00:36:45] for your time. Kathleen Mallard. Good evening. Thank you so much, Superintendent Reed. Hello.

[00:37:57] Hi, all of you. Good to see you again and welcome, Rita. I'm going to talk tonight about the human trafficking resolution you all passed in December of 2021, making January 2022 Human Trafficking Awareness Month. That was a great thing that you all did, but we haven't heard anything else about human trafficking in our schools. And yet, according to you, according to you, human trafficking is a largely unperceived threat to our students and parents, although it's on track to eclipse drug

[00:38:32] trafficking because of revenue. Guess what? You can sell a child for 10 times more. You can sell a bag of fentanyl. This is true. Did anybody see the Sound of Freedom movie? Devastating. But it has elevated awareness in our communities victims have been identified in every Fairfax County public high school according to your resolution many student victims do not know they are being groomed and manipulated by so-called new friends until they are trapped and abused now this is one example of why

[00:39:11] parents and concerned citizens have pleaded with you over and over again please stop this grooming of our students please give me stop giving them surveys like to an 11 year old how many times have you had sex in the last three months and 11 year old come on okay in addition data shows data that kids are often confused about their gender identity and are extremely vulnerable to groomers and kids who are confused about their gender are often autistic I

[00:39:45] i think you all need to anyway i'm going to get on to more stuff but i just hope you all will seriously take into consideration kelly singer um i'm here my name is kelly singer and i'm here with fcps pride and um we we stand with our traditionally excluded students staff and families

[00:40:23] currently under attack by cynical political hate campaigns fueled by aging billionaires who would undermine our public education to undermine our democracy public education is the bedrock of a multi-plural democracy attempts to create division and so fear by demonizing queer kids and staff will fail because they are baseless fcps must systematically and intentionally include and welcome traditionally excluded students staff and families black people of color disabled queer

[00:40:58] lgbtqia immigrant and those with intersecting marginalized identities not just because we deserve it but because pluralism and inclusion will be the values and actions that save this country we deserve and insist that we be given full access to the curriculum and a seat at the table where policies affecting us are shaped and decisions made nothing about us without us trans kids and non-binary kids belong everywhere. Trans kids and non-binary kids belong in schools. Thank

[00:41:35] you. Christina McCormick. Hello again. My name is Christina McCormick. As I've probably mentioned before, I'm the parent of a transgender high school student and I'm also a board member with FCPS Pride. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for standing with your transgender and non-binary students, staff, and caregivers by continuing to offer and enforce the protections

[00:42:14] provided to them under regulation 2603 in accordance with state and federal law. When the recent Virginia Department of Education guidelines were released, my son was distraught. His words to me were "Can't I just exist?" If you think that sounds dramatic, then I would pose that you probably have not had your identity and existence threatened on a daily basis by maybe things at school or people that are ignorant about what that means I know he wasn't the only student and we were not the only family deeply worried and afraid what this would mean

[00:42:51] for him at school I believe that parent engagement is an important part of educational partnership and that it can exist within a school system where all students feel safe respected and are provided an education that meets their individual needs all parents want that for our students everyone in this room wants that for our students. So while I'm deeply personally grateful for the these continued protections fostering an inclusive school environment also means actively seeking out the voices that have been traditionally excluded such as our LGBTQIA students, black, indigenous students of color, religious minorities, disabled, and immigrant students.

[00:43:30] I urge you to create a seat at the table where policies affecting them are shaped and decisions made. It is important now more than ever to stand strong against weaponized politics aimed at our children on behalf of at least one very grateful student who is affirmed safe and learning at school. I say again thank you.

[00:43:52] Courtney Dinkins. Good evening. We all can agree one thing.

[00:44:08] Yeah. We all want a better world for our kiddos a safe place not just in our homes but when they go to school to an aftercare event or activity and not have to worry about a teacher a coach or someone of authority mocking them for their sexual orientation for their religion or even worse the color of their skin. It should go without saying that every kiddo should feel safe because we as adults make them feel safe. But let's not get crazy. I'm standing here before you asking you how can you reassure me that every kiddo will not meet the same fate I did growing up in the FCPS system.

[00:44:45] An eight-year-old child should not have to be worried to be called the N-word because a classmate called them that every single day. Every single day. And be told by admin that they're being too sensitive. A 13-year-old girl should not should be able to be confided in their teacher that they are getting sexually harassed and not be asked what was she wearing, what did she do to provoke the situation. A 14-year-old should be able to go to her math class and not be called stupid because she doesn't understand the problem. A 15-year-old child should be able to go to her counselor and come out and feel safe and not be deemed mentally ill or get

[00:45:25] side glances from the rest of the staff and be able to walk through that school and feel comfortable and not looked at as she has a plague or a sickness. Even worse, no child should fear that they are comfortable in the closet because it's the solitude and they're used to it. I was so deep in the closet. I came out with different personalities every single day because it was easier and better to fit in there. No parent should ever have to bury a child because suicide was the easy way out. What are you doing to prevent that from happening again so no child should ever

[00:46:02] feel like me in FCPS? Thank you. Svetlana Smith. Good evening everyone and I'm going to talk about education in elementary school and I had to redraft my speech a little bit because I want to argue that elementary schools do not teach executive functions enough to skills and I want to put it forward the

[00:46:39] last page of my presentation that I think that FCPS should publish make available to public parents materials and detailed curriculum for each subject each grade doesn't have to be published in print should be available online I should not be chased teachers asking why you give me child a low score for material that is kept as a national secret for Spanish language, for example. Homework has to come back to K-grade. Practical courses on teaching time management and self-organization should start

[00:47:13] somewhere at the first or second grade. Many kids, our kids, after COVID suffer from lack of self-management, self-regulation, self-motivation, self-control. You can't substitute it with anything else. Even academic American Academy of Pediatrics said that speech classes, social behavior, and so on do not substitute for this. So a significant part of our students with developmental disabilities suffer from them and FCPS has nothing to offer besides traditional speech additional classes that do not

[00:47:48] teach essential skills. I tried really hard to find anything available at FCPS to teach those essential skills and there is nothing. Executive functions are those functions that make or break a person when a person leaves the school or even when a person goes to middle or high school at this point or college. Executive functions are those mental processes that allow us to resist temptation, resist destruction, proceed and be successful at the end. Those functions...

[00:48:25] Thank you. I'm sorry. If you have written comments you can give them to our clerk so we can hear the rest of your speech. Thank you. Sandra Davis. We have watched you deliver resolution after resolution over the past three years while our school division declined by every possible major. It's time to

[00:49:04] change direction. I propose the following resolution recognizing that school closures played a major role in the deterioration of youth mental health and academic achievement whereas humbly admitting fault and accepting responsibility is the first step towards the reconciliation our county badly needs whereas we claim we are not behind even though we were then and we are even further behind now whereas this board denied students of special needs a free and appropriate public education whereas we wasted federal relief money intended for addressing learning loss on equity consultants lab coats non-teaching staff and spurious litigation against

[00:49:40] parents whereas every measure of academic achievement has fallen whereas we acknowledge the mental health crisis among our students whereas we recognize that keeping secrets from parents about sensitive issues is ill-conceived whereas we admit to conflating the concept of book banning with a very real concern over pornography and cartoon form that has infiltrated our school libraries whereas we have recognized that violent incidents increase at schools across our division whereas we mistakenly offer the minimum number of instruction hours when the maximum is needed whereas this board forced young children to wear masks despite clear evidence this was causing speech problems with no health

[00:50:16] benefit whereas we tried to shut parents and other community stakeholders out of the public engagement process around school openings academic standards masks and now recognize their concerns were valid whereas we attempted to distract from the harm we did to children by debating national level political issues whereas teachers and students are fleeing this public school division in the wake of our poor decisions now therefore be it resolved that the Fairfax County School Board recognizes that closing schools for too long was a tragic mistake with negative consequences that will affect an entire generation of children that this is our duty to admit this and to engage in

[00:50:52] reconciliation with the harm community and it will never happen again. Alexis Brown. Hi good evening my name is Alexis Brown I wanted to talk about the model policy children in general have little say in their day-to-day lives and kids like transgender kids are even more vulnerable when attacked or demonized by adults who should know better if those are the messages trans kids are getting from their families communities or

[00:51:32] the media i'm happy to hear fairfax schools are stepping up to protect them in my view this model policy does nothing more than give trans students resources grown-up support to build resilience build a sense of self respect students identities all good things for children to grow into the kinds of adults we hope they become. A model policy like Fairfax County's is what schools should be doing for its students. When folks demand schools project adult prejudices and uninformed fears on students, this is not what a school should be doing. I have a child in

[00:52:09] Fairfax County's schools. I don't have any reason to think she'll ever be personally affected by these by the model policy, but this model policy is a great example to show why we wanted our child in Fairfax County schools to begin with. We wanted schools where kids were educated well in a safe and supportive environment. This policy gives me hope that Fairfax is just as committed to that goal. I and so many other parents that may not be here support this policy and trans kids.

[00:52:40] Thank you. Phil Lowe. Ann Sumser. Cassandra Alcoin.

[00:52:56] Mark Spooner. Jack Shelton. Mr. Spooner. Good evening. Your most basic duty as elected officials is to obey the law, but in defying the model policies of the Department of Education, you've chosen to violate the law.

[00:53:36] You've issued a statement through the superintendent that you're complying with all federal and state civil rights laws, but that's not true. A key Virginia civil rights law says, and I quote, "Parents have a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of their children.

[00:53:57] Your policy violates this right by allowing schools to support gender transition without even informing parents. You're also violating the statute that specifically requires you to adopt policies consistent with the model policy.

[00:54:15] Your transgender policy is the polar opposite of the model policy. So what are you claiming? That the model policy violates the law? I haven't heard any of you come out with any statement to that effect because it's not supported.

[00:54:32] I've looked. There's no law that requires schools to keep secrets from parents when a student wants to change genders or change his name without informing the parents. There's no law saying that a biological male has a civil right to share hotel rooms, showers, and other undressing facilities with girls, or that gives such a person rights that are superior to the girl's privacy rights.

[00:55:02] There's no law saying that a biological male has a right to compete against girls in athletic events. You're allowing these things because of an ideological agenda, not because the law requires them you're going to be sued how many hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars are you willing

[00:55:25] jack shelton tyrone santos hey good evening so i wasn't planning on speaking tonight but uh signed up for the wait list i heard some talk of parents should have a seat at the table yeah like parents like me i don't want men in the bathroom with my daughter or playing on sports teams with

[00:55:59] her um i also heard talk of speaking on behalf of people of color i didn't elect anybody like that okay so that nobody like that talks for me and then so the main reason why I want to talk was Ms. McLaughlin you mentioned data I hope you guys do take a look at the data because SAT scores are down um so when you when and when you look at satisfaction surveys I hope you include everybody that's homeschooled or in private school as unsatisfied with public schools okay you can't just like you have to count them as far as negative outcomes by race I attended the community forum

[00:56:37] and uh what you need to compare is fatherless homes if you put fatherlessness by race it'll it'll all even I mean I'm pretty sure even out so that that should be a category and graduation rates were at 95% and I'm pretty sure proficiency rates were 75% so as a hiring manager like how am I the high school diploma is worthless to me one out of four of them are not proficient what does that tell me have a high school diploma it's meaningless and then the last thing was look at the money that's spent outside of the classroom I want

[00:57:15] to say it was like a third of them are not even teachers third of the employees of FCPS that's from memory okay I might be a little bit wrong but I'm pretty sure it's close to that put the money in the class put the money with the kids so you got you talking about data Ms. McLaughlin I hope you look at those data points okay all right thank you please play the first video submitted by Shelly Arnaldi. Hello my name is Shelly Arnaldi and I'd like to discuss new model policies and ensuring privacy dignity and respect for all students and parents in Virginia's public schools

[00:57:50] and to put you on notice that you're all in direct violation of the Code of Virginia 1-240.1, which provides that a parent has the fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing and education and care of the parent's child. This policy defines the phrase transgender student to mean a public school student whose parent has stated in writing that the student's gender differs from the student's sex.

[00:58:14] The current guidance document you have directly violates the model policies and Virginia code in several sections and must be revised. One part of it says when a school is made aware of a student's gender expansive or transgender status, the school shall offer to convene a support team for the student or parents and parental participation is not required.

[00:58:35] It further states the school shall not disclose confidential information related to the student's transition with the parents or guardians. Fairfax County has 18 House Delegates representing parents in Richmond, and every single one voted against SAGE's law, which is a disgrace.

[00:58:52] As a school board, I believe it's your responsibility to lobby for parents and protect our children, and you failed. In 2020, there were 3.2 million children between the ages of 13 and 17 prescribed psychiatric medications. That accounts for nearly 15% of all 13 to 17-year-olds in the U.S.

[00:59:09] Please work with parents to limit social media, promote healthy diet, exercise, and sports, and encourage in-person social activities. One other thing I'd like to mention is your Student Rights and Responsibilities document, which gets longer every year and requires students and parents to forfeit their God-given rights as documented in the First Amendment of the Constitution.

[00:59:28] Hate speech and slurs may not be nice ways to communicate, but every American has the right to say what they want within the law. Children learn to communicate with each other by saying what they think and learning how it affects others around them. Schools should teach kindness, grace, and forgiveness, which are all necessary for civilized society.

[00:59:46] Thank you. - Please play the second video submitted by Norman Hall. - Good evening. I know that you all have very good reasons to be proud of the recent work being done by the school board and division leaders on the strategic plan and governance.

[01:00:05] Thank you for continuing this work. But I am here as a reminder of unfinished business that I have raised numerous times over the past three years. The need to make sure that free, appropriate public education is provided in an equitable manner using system resources that were enhanced by the ESSER funds you were granted.

[01:00:25] ESSER III: The OCR Agreement Where are the public discussions about these on tonight's agenda? I am perplexed by the lack of public information both about the OCR agreement status and the status of the fiscal year carryover.

[01:00:41] I observed the carryover presentation at the last school board meeting on July 13th and waited for a school board discussion that connects the allocation of 30 million dollars for compensatory education. I understand from prior discussion that the summer started with 91 percent of the FAPE case considerations complete and from staff I have heard that the school board gets updates before the public. So I conclude that they aren't done yet. So how do we know that the 30 million dollar fund transfer will be adequate? My advocacy is that you not make this decision

[01:01:16] unless and until there is public discussion of the OCR findings, and that you prioritize this analysis so that proper approval would be reasonable within a month of time. Thank you. Madam Chair, that was our last public speaker. Thank you. Agenda item 3.02, our strategic plan

[01:01:42] update. I will call in Dr. Reed for an update to our strategic plan. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[01:02:06] One of the things we're going to try that's a little different this year for our strategic plan updates is incorporate short monthly videos. So Madam Chair, if you would please cue the first of our videos, I'd appreciate it. Thank you.

[01:02:39] Fairfax County Public Schools is heading in a new direction, a direction guided by a new strategic plan towards the brightest future for each and every one of our students in FCPS. To create that plan, many voices came together.

[01:02:57] We had a really fruitful discussion about the different issues that we experienced at school and like different solutions that could help mitigate those problems and we got to express our different points of view from different schools so we got more diverse perspectives. We were extremely vested in coming up and developing ideas that were different.

[01:03:17] The process is important to me because this county is so diverse. You can see that our school systems every day so every voice being heard are verbal and non-verbal. I hope this shows that for at least the next couple of years, this is what Fairfax County truly cares about.

[01:03:33] This is what Fairfax County prioritizes, and this is what we hope to see in the future. Out of those many voices came the new strategic plan, a plan that will guide our work for the next seven years. We're really excited to roll out our strategic plan that thousands and thousands of our students, staff, family members, and community developed last year, And we're really excited to implement this year.

[01:03:58] It has five main goals for student achievement, including a strong start and preparing our students for a world yet to be imagined. We're really excited to make sure that all third graders are readers and minimally all eighth graders are in algebra because that's such a gatekeeping course. Now comes the exciting part.

[01:04:17] Doing the work. Excellent. Equity. And opportunity. So I want to thank our Office of Communications and particularly our video team and our photography team for spending some time putting that together.

[01:04:38] We'll be providing a short video at the second board meeting of each month that highlights slides and activities about our strategic plan. We're really excited. We think while we talk about a lot of things, what we really want to make sure our community understands is that our work will speak for itself.

[01:04:56] Our students and our staff are really excited about that. I want to remind Please I want to remind the board that we're going to be Or remind the public that a school board. We're working on implementing a policy governance Approach that will have a direct connection. It's really the accountability piece for our strategic plan and the plan updates were prominently featured at our leadership kickoff also our great beginnings for our new staff and division-wide in-service opportunities.

[01:05:29] Our new department of strategy planning and learning has also been established to make sure that the portfolio management and the different departments across the division are working together as we lead this really important work. It will be important to stay informed, so I want to remind the community that the goal reports as tentatively planned that will be pending board approval this evening are on the following dates and they are dated by goal specific and finally want to remind our community that there is a comprehensive communication plan and it

[01:06:03] is connected to our website and the link is here on the PowerPoint that's linked to the board agenda so if you want to keep up with the opportunity to stay connected it's very easy to do on our website we also will be announcing at next month's check-in we're going to have members of the core team connect actually several times this year because many many many people on the core team put a lot of hours into the work to develop the plan and have a high interest and staying connected to the work as we roll that out and looking at our measures next week in our leadership team meeting will be assigning champions

[01:06:43] to the different measurements for the goal so we're really excited to get to work. So madam chair that's the report on our strategic plan. Thank you. Dr. Anderson would you like to speak. Thank you very much for this. Just very quickly I think on slide two when we were talking when you were talking about the commitment to policy governance. I just want to kind of highlight that I don't think our public knows what any of that is. I think we need to have some concerted effort to make sure that we're educating the community in terms of what that is. And one of the ways that I think we

[01:07:23] should be doing that is the good work that is happening during the retreats I would love to see that move to the work sessions so that the public can actually participate and really learn what is it that the board is expecting of you and how this is going to roll out so that is my ask to our chair and vice chair to move those conversations I do realize that we have probably three or so coming up and so I would like to ask for that to happen because if we're not bringing PUBLIC ALONG AND AS YOU'VE HEARD YOU KNOW THIS EVENING THEY NEED TO KNOW WHAT IS IT THAT WE'RE

[01:07:57] DOING AND HOLDING THE WORK OF THE DIVISION AND HOW THE STRATEGIC PLAN IS GOING TO BE OUTLINED AND HOW WE ARE GOING TO HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE I THINK IS PARAMOUNT FOR THEM TO BE AWARE OF SO I REALLY WANTED TO RAISE THIS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WERE THINKING ABOUT THAT THANK YOU YES THANK YOU I REALLY APPRECIATE THE VIDEO I ACTUALLY LOVE THE PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION WITH OUR COMMUNITY. I DO WANT TO FOCUS ON PAGE TWO WHERE YOU KNOW THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF

[01:08:37] ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES AND YOU JUST REFERRED TO THE STRATEGIC PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT. IF YOU COULD TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT THAT CONSISTS OF AND WHAT ITS PURPOSE IS. I THINK AT LEAST I'VE RECEIVED SOME COMMENTS FROM THE COMMUNITY WITH RESPECT TO HOW WE'RE BROADENING our leadership at um gatehouse and so if you could give us a little information on that i'd appreciate it absolutely what we know is that this work is when we started our strategic planning work we had a diagram of a number of arrows going in a variety of different directions

[01:09:16] and one of the things we know is that if we're going to close the achievement gaps that we so desperately need to close and do so many of these gaps have been around here in fairfax county for for a large number of years right they're not current developments so what's going to be important for us is to make sure that those arrows are going in the right direction.

[01:09:37] Our system is going to need to be aligned in ways that has not previously been aligned. To do that we need to have a coherent focus if you will a fulcrum group which is our strategic planning and learning department which is a very small department but very laser focused on making sure there is solid portfolio management across all departments so that we have really tight alignment and focus on these goals as we report them to you and make sure that our measurements are tight as well.

[01:10:11] This group is overseeing the connection between professional development our school plans the needs of our school principals our staff in the classrooms and making sure that our alignment TO THE STRATEGIC PLAN, THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AND OUR ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEMS ARE ALL TIGHTLY ALIGNED.

[01:10:28] AND THAT'S WORK THAT WE HAVEN'T DONE IN ONE SPACE IN THIS DIVISION YET. SO THAT'S WHY THAT DEPARTMENT IS CRITICAL AT THIS POINT IF WE'RE GOING TO SEE THE RESULTS WE WANT TO SEE AND WE EXPECT TO SEE, FRANKLY. IN RECEIVING REPORTS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE UNDERSTAND THAT, BECAUSE I DON'T -- PART OF THE REASON I'M ASKING THESE QUESTIONS IS I DON'T THINK THERE HAD BEEN A DISCUSSION AT ALL AT THE PUBLIC LEVEL TO UNDERSTAND THESE EXPANSIONS OR TO UNDERSTAND PERHAPS HOW THAT INFORMATION THAT WILL COME FROM THIS DEPARTMENT WILL BE EXPLAINED TO THE COMMUNITY.

[01:11:05] SO CAN YOU SPEAK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW THE COMMUNITY CAN EXPECT TO SEE A DIFFERENCE IN HOW WE'RE MOVING FORWARD AS A RESULT OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THIS DEPARTMENT? YEAH, AND AGAIN, THIS DEPARTMENT IS A REALLOCATION OF ALREADY BUDGETED POSITIONS. These aren't like some new budget ask.

[01:11:21] These were a recombination. One of the things that's going to be really important for us as a division to understand and as a community is we cannot do new work on top of work that we're already doing. We're going to have to stop doing some things to start doing this work around closing gaps and having a tight focus.

[01:11:41] We now have a tight strategic plan with five very clear goals and measurements under each of those goals. One of the things we're going to plan to do with the community is as we, and I think to Dr. Anderson's point, as we look at landing pages to explain more deeply what our accountability structures look like, I think it will become much more clear to the community.

[01:12:02] So again, as we plan on adding landing pages to our strategic work and being very transparent with that work, I think that the community will begin to see the value in really having A TIGHT FOCUS ON THE ACTUAL STRATEGIES, THE PLANNING, AND THE OUTCOMES ACROSS DEPARTMENTS RATHER THAN JUST SINGLE DEPARTMENTS.

[01:12:24] I APPRECIATE THAT. I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING THAT INFORMATION BEING MORE CLEARLY COMMUNICATED TO THE COMMUNITY. THANK YOU. MS. KARS HENDERS. YES.

[01:12:39] THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR. I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY, AND MAYBE I MISUNDERSTOOD, BUT I THOUGHT IN A NOTE EARLIER TODAY that you'd actually change the change the description of future activities surrounding this work to be retreat slash work session so they will be in a more traditional work session setting that people who are not able to be present will be able to watch and I really appreciate that you and the vice

[01:13:13] chair and dr. Reed listen to concerns and we're very responsive so thank you thank you miss McLaughlin hi dr. Reed I think one of the things you know that I am so excited about your leadership is this focus on how do we take our goals and our vision and we create an action plan and we then execute through project management planning so I just wanted to say that I look forward to

[01:13:48] these updates I think they'll be critical for the board and for the public to understand as you noted we have some long-standing challenges that the system is faced and you're here to help us get there but one of the things I'll share that I've shared with multiple superintendents during my time is I tend be less a fan of videos. I worry at times when they come across almost like a nice promo piece, and I have had constituents share with me at times that they start to wonder if we're a flashy

[01:14:26] corporation or we're a publicly funded K-12 school system. So just my two cents that I think I THINK THE FLASHY VIDEOS HURT US, AND ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARE JUST LOVABLE, BUT I DON'T KNOW THAT THEY ACTUALLY SPEAK TO THE TREMENDOUS WORK THAT YOU AND YOUR TEAM ARE DOING.

[01:14:46] SO I HOPE FUTURE VIDEOS WILL REALLY FOCUS MORE ON SUBSTANTIVE UPDATES TO THE BOARD ABOUT WHERE ARE WE IN THE ACTION PLAN, WHERE ARE WE ON THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT OF THOSE PLANS, Because that will transform this system, I think, from what we've been visionary, but we haven't always been able to execute.

[01:15:09] So I do appreciate that. I did miss the most recent retreat. So it wasn't my understanding that we finalized policy governance approach. I thought we finalized the operational expectations that we'll be voting on in two weeks.

[01:15:29] but policy governance was going to be more discussion. I'll leave that to Madam Chair to review the work session with you. Okay, that will be great. And other than that, you know, I do want to thank you again for your commitment to this work and for dedicating the time in our meetings to try and elevate this work beyond what happens in work sessions because the public often turns to our business meetings to really understand where the work's getting done.

[01:16:04] So thank you. Thank you. We'll keep the videos short. Thank you. Seeing no other members that would like to speak, I do have just a couple of comments and clarifications. I certainly appreciate the comments of our colleagues here this evening.

[01:16:23] And, yes, we've been listening. And we had a lengthy conversation with Dr. Reid yesterday about you know just really making sure that are that the public understands where we're moving with policy governance it's something that the school district has implemented before and done before and took a little bit of a pause maybe you know during our times of COVID and now we're really getting back to it but we want to make sure everybody really understands it so we will be putting out more and more information about what it is how we're

[01:16:58] doing it what it looks like and trying to be more transparent about it we did our strategic plan with a lot of public input we are you know finalizing our executive expectations from our last retreat that we had and over the next couple weeks we will vote on that at our next board meeting but we will be moving into more of a work session format as we move forward with the next parts of policy governance so Ms. McLaughlin you're exactly right we're just you know working on the first two pieces of it and we have a ways to go our September

[01:17:36] 28th board meeting we will actually start you know it was showing you know at the public meetings how we will be looking at those expectations and discussing those expectations in a very public format so we look forward to that

[01:17:51] SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH DR. REED. OF COURSE THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR AND DR. REED WHEN I EXAMINED THE DOCUMENTS FOR TODAY'S MEETING I DIDN'T SEE I SAW THE EXECUTIVE EXPECTATIONS LISTED BUT I DIDN'T SEE THE DOCUMENTS SO CAN WE DO WE KNOW WHEN THOSE WILL BE POSTED SO WE DISCUSSED THAT YESTERDAY AND WE'LL BE GETTING INFORMATION BACK TO YOU PROBABLY EARLY

[01:18:29] next week but we will get more information back to you on when the the documents will contain all of the different changes and recommendations that we had from our meeting earlier this week I ask because we I want to make sure the community has an opportunity to observe review those documents prior to our discussion yes absolutely we expect those will be out at some point next week and we will let we'll let you know as soon as we have that information and then our next work session will be on September 12th which is a public meeting and then our board meeting will follow that.

[01:19:04] Thank you. Thank you. Okay Dr. Reed seeing no other board members that would like to speak we can move on to academic matters. Thank you Madam Chair. Tonight on academic matters we thought it would be a great idea to take a look back at our summer learning and we had a lot going on this past summer and just really excited about all of the staff both in the classroom in the schools activities our transportation staff and food service staff is really an all hands-on deck next slide please one of the things that

[01:19:43] we had is a really a another record number of students over 33,000 we have over 3,800 staff that were focused and I mean that's actually the size of many school divisions in terms of summer work we had 23 programs at 87 sites and just a really great deal of energy and we were excited by really all the planning that went on as well last spring in amongst a lot of other projects so that we were able to pull summer school off I think in a very thoughtful way so big

[01:20:19] thank you to all the staff that participated in that we could go thank Thank you. Again, I wanted to kind of take a moment and share a little bit about several of the programs that we hosted this past summer. Our special education extended school year services, as noted, are provided to students grades pre-K through 12.

[01:20:39] And these students had IEP teams that decided that the benefits that the student might gain during the regular school year might be jeopardized if they don't have ESY services. So we had a number of students, over 4,000, who received some ESY services and also transportation as part of their program.

[01:21:01] And there was just a great deal of activity across all of our five center-based sites as well as our preschool, elementary, and secondary sites. It was really exciting and a big thank you to Terri Edmonds Hurd and Michelle Boyd and their entire staffs that we had summer school fully staffed for all registered students prior to the first day so there was a great deal of to celebrate about that when we think about elementary and middle school we had over 12,000 students at pyramid sites and a significant focus of our summer program was strengthening our core mathematics and language arts programs for our

[01:21:41] elementary and middle school students we also continue to offer bridge to kindergarten which were the littles were very excited because they were coming to school for the first time we offered young scholars and also we wanted to make sure that project-based learning and pogpole activities were available again our sites were many and transportation managed to route as I said over 12,000 students on time every day to their summer program so a lot of excitement. When we think about high school credit recovery academy, we had

[01:22:18] over 2,400 students, almost 2,500, and again just a lot of activity on our students. There were particular excitement about the combined English 12 and government classes and the first credit recovery field trip. The students went to Mount Vernon to participate in the Situation Room, which was an interactive experience where students took on historical roles to make decisions during a critical time in Washington's presidency trying to make summer school sort of a more experiential opportunity and take advantage of the incredible resources we have in our community I particularly appreciated

[01:22:56] some of the science classes I did have a chance to visit a chemistry class that was doing exciting work in the middle of summer and who wouldn't love chemistry at any time of the year so we moved to the online campus summer program which was very popular with students we had over 4,321 courses offered it was open to middle and high school with daily synchronous lessons as well as English language and IEP 504 support just a great deal again of energy around the online English development program as well which fulfilled an online requirement towards graduation.

[01:23:36] So a lot of activity there. As we think about our Institute for the Arts and elementary, we had over 1,400 rising third through 12th graders who participated in art, music, theater, and dance.

[01:23:51] And we hosted international teaching artists for theater classes as well. It was really an exciting time. And they had weekly themes that I think kept the students really engaged throughout. One of the highlights this summer in that program is hosting international teaching artists through the International School Theater Association, which is a UK-based charity specializing in global learning through theater.

[01:24:18] And it gave our students an opportunity to connect in real time with theater artists from around the world. We also had some CTE summer camps open to rising first through 12th graders. The rising first and second graders were a new addition for this past summer.

[01:24:35] and we had over 1,700 students participate. 10 Teacher for Tomorrow interns came and helped with that, which was really exciting, a chance to practice their teaching skills. And our rising first to seventh graders participated in a tech adventure camp.

[01:24:52] They learned a lot more about CTE, which really fueled, I think, their perhaps future course selection patterns. And our rising eighth through 12th graders participated in a CTE summer academy, where there 26 different courses to choose from and all six areas of our CTE program were involved in that. It was really exciting that we were also able to cover the cost of free and reduced meals for our students who attended this camp and had approximately 540 students who qualified for free and reduced lunch who attended.

[01:25:22] Finally I want to share that there was a lot of excitement at our summer graduation. We had 123 students graduate and just want to thank all the staff that showed up and I think one of the things that is so powerful about this community is how much our staff our families and you as a board care about our students we had principals show up who had one graduate to hand them their diploma at summer school graduation so this was very proud of all of our folks who did what's actually most important in relationships and that's show up and And just a fabulous summer.

[01:26:02] So, Madam Chair, that is Academic Matters for this evening. Thank you. Very exciting. We have several board members with questions or comments. Ms. Corbett-Sanders? Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Reed. Very exciting.

[01:26:19] I know my children did the tech adventure camps when they were little, and they were just fantastic. What I think would be really helpful is because we often hear about the, you know, what are we focusing on the right things?

[01:26:37] And are we reaching, you know, reaching as many kids as we should be or we'd like to? And so if we could have a trend analysis that shows how many kids participated in summer programs year over year and perhaps a five-year look back or three-year, whatever works.

[01:27:03] But the reason I ask that is, you know, in 2008, we saved a lot of money. We addressed a budget shortfall by getting rid of many of our summer programs and focusing purely on remedial credit recovery, whereas we are coming back to having much more robust experiences for our students, not only for credit recovery, I'm thrilled that you went

[01:27:40] to Mount Vernon, but also for enrichment. And so if we could demonstrate to the public how we are effectively using these resources, I think it would be greatly appreciated. Okay.

[01:27:56] And bravo. Ms. Marin. Yes. So I was really excited to have my own students attend the summer programs, but it turned out that one of my students was doing the summer SOAR program for more intentional language arts and math instruction.

[01:28:16] But I was curious about the switch of this year. So last summer it was, I think, a two-week session for IFTA or for, actually, I don't know if there was a CTE offering last year like this. And this year now it was one-week sessions. So I was just wondering about that and seeing that data about participation level, so similar to the comments, and certainly following, especially with the CTE, those students, you know, how do they do with their academics and then do they continue on in that field?

[01:28:47] So that was something I wanted to just inquire about. I don't need an answer right this second. But I think that kind of analysis, you know, because I think about this as, you know, sort of the supplemental complementary enrichment programs like we have here or with our ACE, you know, it kind of it's like the same kind of thing, right?

[01:29:02] It's not our main focus, but certainly this is very much aligned with our mission. And so how do we do that when it's not in the throes of the school year? The other thing you're welcome to comment on the doctor if you'd like, but I just want to share. No, I just think they're fair points, and we would have to go back and run some numbers in terms of the impact of being in coursework or not.

[01:29:23] But the camps and weeks were provided last summer, if that would be correct. Thank you. Well, and also, I want to take this opportunity to talk about online physical education, because I know a number of constituents who were taking their high school PE course over the summer so they could free up a course, an elective, in the coming year.

[01:29:42] And while I think the PE option is great, I know it works for some students, I have two questions about it. One is, does that mean that we're not promoting that physical activity for students during the school day? Then if they're not taking PE, are students then just going from thing to thing and they don't have that break?

[01:29:59] But more so, I think it really calls a need to think about how we offer electives and the schedule. And I see it in middle school where already if you're not in a music performing group, your music education is done by sixth grade. And you have to keep choosing at this young age.

[01:30:15] So I just want to put a shout out to think about that and how our schedule allows our students to take the kinds of courses they're interested in, especially earlier in their academic career and allow for the healthy practices of PE and having lunch. So I just want to elevate that.

[01:30:30] Yeah. Thank you, Miss Marin. In fact, this afternoon we spent an hour, I know several of our senior leadership team members talking about the importance of how we use our time and the importance of schedules, Right one of the things that we made sure of this year and we're very intentional about is we'd heard a lot about elementary planning time and so we've made really intentional effort to make sure that at every all 141 elementary schools the contracted elementary planning time is afforded to our staff and our principals worked hard with the regional

[01:31:04] assistant superintendents and executive principals to share ideas and because we know how we use time is really important and with the state's new requirement as well on assessment our intervention time the 30 minutes for students who require that it's really been a retooling of schedules and then you think middle and high school and how master schedules and courses fit that's a really really

[01:31:31] important topic so more to come on that Dr. Anderson oh just very quickly I definitely want to echo what Miss Corbin Sanders talked about in terms of three to five year look because I think that's really an important piece and would really show our community how the program is going also I would love to get a sense of with each of the programs and I kind of totaled it up here we had about 22,465 kids participate I'm very curious in

[01:32:07] terms of how much did we spend on each of the programs I would love I would love to have that number just kind of be attached to we had x number of students and we spent that much in THE PROGRAM BECAUSE I THINK IT WILL HAVE A DUAL IMPACT ONE WE GET A SENSE OF HOW MUCH IT COSTS TO RUN THE PROGRAM AND WHAT OUR ROI IS AND SECONDARILY I KNOW WHEN WE ALLOCATE FUNDS EARLIER AND EARLIER ON IN THE YEAR FOR SUMMER PROGRAMMING WE WILL SEE HOW CLOSE WE WERE OR HOW FAR AWAY WE WERE FROM THAT ALLOCATION SO I WONDER IF YOU COULD SHARE IF THAT'S A POSSIBILITY ABSOLUTELY WE CAN PREPARE

[01:32:45] that yes thank you the other thing that I would be remiss if I didn't plug for Bridge to Kindergarten is one of the programs that I know parts of my community have been clamoring about it because the number of seats was severely cut this year and I would love for us to maybe be a little bit more aligned with the community need for those programs because there was way more interest than THERE WERE SEATS, AT LEAST IN THE MASON DISTRICT. THANK YOU FOR THAT FEEDBACK.

[01:33:17] MS. MCLACHLAN. THANK YOU. FIRST OF ALL, DR. REED, I REALLY WANT TO APPLAUD YOU AND YOUR TEAM FOR STANDING UP OF FULLY STAFFED SUMMER PROGRAMS. THAT'S FANTASTIC, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE KNOW THAT OUR EDUCATORS OFTEN NEED THAT SUMMER BREAK. SO THAT'S SO REWARDING TO HEAR.

[01:33:46] also the experiential learning we know too often for a lot of kids in a school division where 35 of our families are identified as free and reduced meals the opportunity to do these type of enriching activities and make those connections between how the classroom brings you to activity is really important in terms of what we can do from a data perspective would like to see how we can maybe look at our at-risk students who we had

[01:34:20] invited for credit recovery what percentage of those students didn't end up participating and if we could circle back through the counselors social workers whoever would be the appropriate staff but I really do worry about some of our our most vulnerable kids at-risk kids if we don't have a sense of what how many didn't actually do the credit recovery and then following up with them and their families to say what happened it could have been transportation it

[01:34:56] could be again the mental health and other challenges that the families had I just I've seen that firsthand and as a social worker it's one of the things that worries me is we can offer all this, but if we're not actually circling back and looking at who did we miss, and it's not to put all the pressure on ourselves, but it is to say who did we lose in this effort, and then what are the things that within our control that we can maybe help make sure kids don't fall through the cracks, because credit

[01:35:33] recovery is everything for keeping kids engaged, so thank you for the report on this. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Mache? Yeah. Thank you so much. It's always exciting to see the successes of our kids and their joy with learning.

[01:35:51] I did have a couple of questions just if anybody has the data available. And if not, that's fine. But in terms of how enrollment here compares to maybe pre-COVID would be ideal, but even just previous years. So I'm going to say that I think the numbers since we've returned from COVID are much, much higher because we've used ESSER dollars to supplement the summer school budget to, I think it was Ms. Corbett Sanders that said that the summer programs were really cut a number of years ago.

[01:36:21] I think that's probably true in divisions around the country, right, but we did use ESSER dollars to provide supports for summer school, so we know that keeping learning going is going to help us address some of the gaps that have been exacerbated by COVID.

[01:36:39] So I think the numbers probably are a little less high this year than they were last, but they're certainly higher than they were pre-COVID. I think that would be a fair statement. Yeah. I can get you some actual numbers. I think somebody has already asked for a three to five year look back and I don't have that like...

[01:36:57] Yeah, I don't mean, you know, to the T, but I guess the idea is like, do we have potential reasons? Are we understand it to have been a little bit less or? Well, let me get the numbers and then let's, we'll have our best guess as to why. Okay. exactly the same and maybe they're more it's just a feel more okay if it's just you know the normal variation I'm just obviously thinking of as we look ahead what are things that you know okay and then do we have any sense of what the geographic distribution was like in terms of where the sites were hosted and maybe even numbers comparing to before what if there were less

[01:37:32] sites this time I'll have to provide that for you in a report okay I don't have that just off the top of my head yeah I think as we plan in the future I just want to be mindful of how COVID maybe impacted obviously a lot less locations right and then trying to roll back to where what was normal for us before if it was less sites than what we were used to prior to COVID you know we might want to work towards that and especially making sure they're geographically diverse so that everyone has access in the future I do believe we had fewer sites this year than last because we were trying to be more efficient with our funds, right,

[01:38:09] and providing staff in certain, I don't know that I'd call them hub locations, but there were fewer sites this year than we had last summer, for sure, I believe. It was a different model. Yeah, no, I guess I just want to be mindful from an access standpoint, making sure it's a big county.

[01:38:28] It is a big county. So we'll get the access map as part of the three- to five-year look back. No, I appreciate that. And I was happy to see, you know, some of the credit recovery opportunities, obviously, that we offer and ESY, which is always a good resource for special ed students.

[01:38:47] I was wondering why we chose to do, I guess, remedial like language support online. And if that was the case last year, I don't know, because I remember my first year on this board, you know, there was talk of how we used to have summer school for English learners.

[01:39:06] That kind of got rolled back. I know there was a bit of a fight to get it back. And then with COVID, I don't know what happened since then. Yeah, we can get back to you on that with a report. That'll be part of our three to five year look back. I'm making notes so we can have all of those columns connected for you.

[01:39:24] No, I appreciate that. I think Dr. Presidio maybe wanted to say something. No, I mean, I think these are great questions. We're happy to provide the additional data in response. I mean, the online ELD class is not the only way that that information is delivered.

[01:39:40] So students did get access for English language development services as part of our in-school, in-person programs. This is just another option for those students that maybe, for a variety of different reasons, need more flexibility with their schedule. So we want to make sure that that flexibility is maximized as much as possible.

[01:39:58] Okay. But was that English advancement opportunity still available? Was that under the credit recovery program? No, that support service was built into the different programs that we have at the elementary, middle, and high school level.

[01:40:14] So this is, again, was just for those students that couldn't, you know, for a variety of reasons, couldn't access those in-person services but still wanted to get that additional language development practice and support over the summer. Okay. Yeah, Dr. Reid, then I do want to kind of lean in and emphasize this specific piece because we all know, obviously, some of the biggest gaps we saw were for kids who were learning English because they don't get to practice that at home in the same way.

[01:40:36] over the summer there's a lot of rollback if they don't you know continue and i know before covid but you know however else things fell after that but we had a consistent summer program for them to develop further in their english so i hope that we can look into that and making sure we still offer a robust program for them that is independent and that's not online for specifically english support uh and then just my last question was about wait lists i don't know IF WE SAW WAITLISTS THIS YEAR IT SOUNDS LIKE I THINK DR.

[01:41:09] ANDERSON INDICATED FOR THE BRIDGE DECAY WE WOULD HAVE WAITLISTS FROM MASON DISTRICT. SO I THINK THERE LIKELY WERE SOME WAITLISTS BUT I DON'T KNOW THAT THEY WERE SIGNIFICANT BUT AGAIN THAT WILL BE PART OF MY THREE TO FIVE YEAR LOOK BACK WITH THAT.

[01:41:25] WE REALLY TRIED TO I MEAN JUST BIG PROPS TO OUR STAFF FOR AGREEING TO BE PART OF SUMMER school because we were able to staff all courses. So I think I have to check into what happened with our bridge decay. But I'm guessing there were likely some wait lists for the non-ESY courses.

[01:41:46] Yeah. No, no, for sure. And I definitely don't want to lose sight of the wins that we fully staffed and whatnot, but always continuously improving. So I'll look forward to these pieces and don't want to lose sight of the summer school piece either now that we're going to,

[01:42:00] You know get full into school. Right. But that we can make some improvements before next year. Thank you so much. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Miss Vekarski and then Miss Ratsheiser Heiser. We see your hand. You will be next. Okay. Thank you Dr. Reed for the presentation. I also wanted I was glad that Miss McLaughlin bought the credit recovery because that's something that I had heard as well. I didn't hear it this year but location was a big hindrance for many of our students particularly our ELLs who many times need it the most to be

[01:42:36] able to complete classes so I hope as we're you know going forward and thinking about how we you know provide these services to students that were being very intentional about that because staff knows it because staff shared that with me but they felt very frustrated that there was not you know that that concern was not being addressed adequately with access for them I'll tell you it wasn't this year but the year passed I believe kids in Centerville

[01:43:16] high school we're going to South County yeah that is a bit of a track and I had one more thing that completely just went out of my my head right now but I will I'm sure I'm going to remember it just as soon as we're done with the conversation and I will I will reach out to you with that thank you thank you and I should be happy to pick up where Stella left off because I was going to mention for the credit recovery that I've also heard of challenges regarding

[01:43:54] transportation and the length of time it takes to get to some of the programs but I was wondering and I apologize I missed it is there an online option for credit recovery for students who may have to work or have those transportation challenges I was there oh online I had one with the online school it's I think it's part of the credit recovery Academy but Dr. Presidio do you want to so there would be some opportunities for students to take classes at the online campus for

[01:44:33] credit recovery purposes the vast majority of those students though are taking those courses for original credit so it's the first time that they're taking those courses and the students that are taking the in-person credit recovery courses really benefit from that intentional synchronous in-person connection because not only do they have to pass the class to get those verified credits they also have their SOL requirement that they have to pass so there's a lot of support that they can get in person no I agree in person I think it's better I was just thinking in terms of students who may not be able to access it for transportation or time or whatever to have an option of students

[01:45:12] may have to work so that was my thought around that piece of it and I had a second question around ESY and it's probably a longer conversation Dr. Reed But I wanted to ask, you know, the purpose of ESY is not enrichment, but the timing of it often and the fact that many students do ESY year after year prevents them from being able to access enrichment opportunities and inclusion opportunities during the summer.

[01:45:36] So have we thought about maybe looking at how we offer ESY to tack on either easy access for students for the access enrichment or some enrichment within ESY or some sort of hybrid option? Just because I know year after year there are students who miss out on summer camp opportunities, swim team opportunities, IFTA or how to make a choice between their needs being met in ESY and some of those summer enrichment that students may have the only chance to explore options.

[01:46:05] So just something to think about as we're looking at ESY, how do we intentionally pair those with other opportunities so students don't have to pick? yeah I think we did talk about that sort of making you know feeling like sometimes every summer some students have to go to class and other students get to do summer camp and kind of fun things so I know that that was a conversation that we had and I think we still have work to do to get there you know what can be yeah we have work to do on that yeah I think as we look at that strengths focus right how do we actually get intentional space to develop those strengths especially in the summer when there may be more flexibility without

[01:46:43] having students having to choose so I just want to lift that up as a thought fair point thank you thank you we're gonna allow miss Pekarski to she came up with them sorry it's gonna be very quick though so I will tell you I did have feedback from some exceptional exceptional teachers that they will not be you know teaching again if we're able to offer it in this robust manner just because of the very short time period that they had between finishing the school year and starting the school year so as we are you know planning and

[01:47:22] thinking about what we're gonna do and we know how hard it is to retain teachers especially like the kind that gave me this feedback just want to bring that to your attention finishing the school year and starting summer school summit and right and then starting and then finishing summer school and starting the regular year they just said there was like no time no time for time off no time to recoup at all and they said even with the money they they would not do it again because of that so I'm just bringing it to you I'm sure you're gonna have all the answers and you will work that out next time

[01:47:58] you're playing well thank you for your confidence but if they if it's the time between the end and the beginning and the end in the beginning it's going to be hard to move well I think the issue was with all of that there just was no time anywhere to kind of take a little bit of time off before one started and one ended and I don't know what the dates are but because I heard it from several people and these really are master teachers that we want to be teaching these I thought you know so it was the thought and I apologize for asking this again maybe but is the

[01:48:33] thought to start some parts of summer school later or they had no thoughts they just said I would like some time off okay and I would love to do this too but okay with having no time off the money was not worth it to them well we are going to be doing some teacher town halls as we have previously done so hopefully that'll come up and we can kind of hear some ideas that staff have because I think it's good for kids and I think we had staff that really enjoyed it so if we can you know hear some of that feedback and improve it we're all in they enjoyed it yeah that wasn't the issue so yeah thanks thank you Dr. Reed and it was wonderful to share that graduation of

[01:49:12] the 123 students with you and others fantastic thank you all right thanks madam chair okay now we have agenda item 3.04 student representative matters I call on Miss Kareem thank you madam chair. Good evening, everyone, and happy second week of the school year. I'm deeply grateful for the students and parents who have taken the initiative to communicate their concerns. Your willingness to engage is truly valuable as your insights are necessary to fostering a supportive

[01:49:47] environment. Starting tomorrow, the 1st of September, marks the beginning of Suicide Awareness Month. In this period, we not only honor those who have passed away, but we also offer support to another with empathy. Even by utilizing FCPS resources for telehealth like Hazel can offer valuable assistance. Remember, even the smallest gestures can spark meaningful changes. As a reminder, Student Advisory Committee applications are currently open and are due September 8th. I encourage every high school student interested in applying as you will not only be making an impact on your peers right now, but also for generations to come. Moving on, I have

[01:50:25] engaged in conversations with students from across the county addressing a range of issues. Among these concerns, one prominent topic that emerged is the matter of grading skills. The grading structure at Anandale High School has gained a variety of different student perspectives. As one student put it, and I quote, I think it fluctuates our grades too heavily. Last year, I maintained an A in my Spanish class for the entirety of the year, but just weeks before school ended, it dropped by 5% quite literally overnight. I feel like my hard work throughout the year was thrown in the trash. Another student highlighted,

[01:51:01] "90% of our grades are tests, so there's little incentive to invest in formative work." Moreover, students raised points about the unpredictable grade fluctuations being a discouraging factor, as a single poor summative performance can lead to a significant drop in overall grades. This sentiment is echoed in the words of a student who stated, "Your work ethic does not matter because 90% of your grades are tests so engaging informative work won't help slightly it's important to recognize that these concerns extend beyond annandale high school many students from various schools have faced differing

[01:51:37] grade grading systems such as the 4.0 skill or even grading scales varying by each class why hasn't fairfax county implemented a consistent and well-founded grading policy supported by strong evidence this would be more effective effective than having numerous different policies introduced under the name of equity but without substantial proof or tested support.

[01:52:02] Another issue that has emerged from conversations with students pertains to the availability of free lunches. While some schools continue to offer free lunches for all students, others restrict it to only those who meet specific qualifications. This disparity has had an impact on numerous students as during the 21-22 school year we were all accustomed to having access to free lunches.

[01:52:25] One student stated, and I quote, "Given the existence of an already established free and reduced program, why not extend free lunches to all students? In doing so, this would increase students, parents, and staff looking to improve the current lunches."

[01:52:40] Another student expressed how they no longer experienced embarrassment when receiving free lunch as it had become a universally available option. It is important to recognize that learning on a full stomach holds considerable importance as an empty stomach can hinder attention and comprehension.

[01:52:57] An additional concern that has arisen from discussions with students pertain to the challenges faced by various Muslim student associations, also known as MSAs and high schools, when seeking designated prayer rooms. According to one student as quoted, our MSA leadership has put an immense effort to locate larger and more hygienic spaces with the school for prayer.

[01:53:18] However, persistent difficulties have been encountered dealing with admin. Another student representing a different school conveyed administrative understanding of the significance of prayer has been an issue, leading to feelings of insignificance and marginalization among students.

[01:53:34] It is important to acknowledge the necessity of accommodating students and their right to engage in prayer. In continuation, I engage with the McLean Islamic Center's board, a pivotal stakeholder group of the county, to create a guideline that each school is encouraged to adopt as displayed on board docs.

[01:53:54] Another topic of concern that has come up in discussions with both SEALS and SAC meetings revolve around Title I issues related to extracurricular disparities, particularly in STEM education. STEM education is constantly evolving and holds significant importance for shaping the future.

[01:54:12] It's crucial to highlight that teaching students from a young age is vital as they are currently in the process of developing their skills. In the Student Equity Ambassador Lead Program, commonly referred to as SEALS, the Access to Technology Committee identified a notable inequity.

[01:54:30] Some elementary schools offer STEM programs, while others do not. In response, we took action and launched an initiative to promote STEM education. This effort led to the formation of a group called Technology Youth Empowerment, also known as TYE, which has now achieved 501c3 certification.

[01:54:48] Starting this year, our focus is on teaching STEM education at Brookfield Elementary, a Title I school. And we are also working on extending to other Title I schools. If you have an interest in participating as a student representative for TYE, which originated from the SEALS program, please reach out by sending a message through the Submit a Question feature on the school board website.

[01:55:09] Your involvement can make a meaningful difference. Expanding on that point, another matter was raised concerning extracurricular opportunities for all high school students. for instance, schools like Bryant High School have rather limited access to sports, clubs, honor societies, and similar activities.

[01:55:27] Recognizing this is crucial as these engagements can significantly contribute to students' mental well-being and overall balance. In response to this concern, earlier this year, the Technology and FCPS On Committee within the Superintendent Advisory Council put forth a proposal to Dr. Reid.

[01:55:44] We suggested the creation of a school-wide Schoology page that could cater to all high schoolers. On this platform, career specialists would pose various opportunities sourced from Naviance. This approach ensures that no student is left behind, particularly considering the diversity of schools.

[01:56:01] It's possible that one career specialist might share an opportunity that another specialist might not be aware of. Lastly, I'd like to share information about a new program called SPIRIT, which stands for School Student Problem Identification and Resolution of Issues Together.

[01:56:17] SPIRIT is a powerful initiative that aims to elevate student voice through a series of meetings and discussions. In each of these gatherings, we're fortunate to have representatives from the Department of Justice who serve as valuable resources. They provide guidance on effective ways to address various matters and bring about positive change.

[01:56:35] Woodson High School successfully launched this program earlier in the spring, and they've accomplished some remarkable outcomes. One notable achievement is the compilation of a report that highlights critical issues identified by students. this report is on board docs for everyone to see showcasing both the problems and the solutions that have been endorsed by the department of justice moreover the initiative at woodson includes the creation of informative videos that raise awareness about different issues and guide students on how to take action or respond looking ahead they have plans for assemblies and interactive lessons during advisory sessions to further spread awareness

[01:57:11] a central objective of mine is to expand the spirit program to all high schools the presence of department of justice officials at these meetings serve as a motivating factor demonstrating the tangible process can be made and that our voices as students hold significant weight this approach not only empowers students but also expands the impact of their voices in a meaningful way the perspectives shared by these students illuminate crucial areas for improvement in our educational system i definitely was not able to cover all topics tonight but just by having these discussions underline the importance of fairness and equity thank you

[01:57:47] thank you very much miss kareem agenda item 3.05 superintendent matters i will call on dr reed thank you madam chair um just want to say i hope that everyone's had a restful relaxing and renewing summer it's hard to believe we're headed into labor day weekend a reminder to our students that it is not a school day tomorrow and our staff that tomorrow is a holiday so just hope folks enjoy tomorrow and monday and really take some time to enjoy these last days of summer it's hard

[01:58:27] to believe we're already into the second week actually of school but i want to thank everyone that made the first two weeks such a great smooth start to the school year in particular As you know, we route over 1,600 bus routes each and every day, and just so much grateful thanks to our drivers, our mechanics, our routers, Francine Furby, who makes sure that all of our transportation needs are addressed.

[01:58:56] And while we certainly had some challenging routes in the opening days, last-minute student enrollments, moves and adjustments, really am grateful for all the hard work. and also our facilities maintenance custodians our campuses just looked really welcoming and fabulous our food nutrition staff we were able to open for the first time with all 199 schools having a salad bar available to students and it was really fun even on the first day of school to visit our

[01:59:29] elementaries where our youngest learners were able to navigate salad bars and the cafeteria time During the first week, Ms. Toland, our board chair, did join me at Herndon High School to kick off the year at 4:45 in the morning on the first day. And during the first week, I was able to make it to 20 of our schools and really just had an opportunity to see at every level how hard staff and students were working. I want to make sure our teachers really know how much we appreciate them and all of the work they did to plan and prepare and the professional development

[02:00:09] it's just been an all hands on deck effort we also at several of our buildings are in the middle of renovations and just want i know our board would want also to say we notice you the staff that are working so hard under renovation conditions i walked through falls church high school oh dear I'm gonna forget that Louise Archer elementary and just talking with principals and just the amount of work Lisa Barrow also at the middle schools our staff and students are just so resilient and just thanks to

[02:00:45] our design and construction team and our construction planners everyone I mean it's such a team effort here I've been to a lot of community back to school night events and seeing a lot of our board members and communities families and just big shout out and thank you to our PTAs our parent support and partnership is really so important also the athletic programs several volleyball matches I know last night Marshall and Madison had a full house at Madison High School some phenomenal volleyball and also had a chance to see Lake Braddock

[02:01:21] and Langley, as well as Falls Church Football on their new field last Friday, playing against Chantilly. So just a lot going on. I want to remind, oh, and I think one of my favorite events of the summer was attending the Westfield High School musical theater production of Footloose.

[02:01:41] Such a reminder of a great story and just so many talented young people from all across the division and the volunteer team that put that together. fabulous want to share with our community that fcps was named a 2023 energy star partner of the year for sustained excellence and also want to mention a big shout out to our hr department dr sherry wilson and the team for making sure that we had an educator and our support team in every classroom and our routes covered as well as just making sure things got done taking care of those tactical

[02:02:20] details. And lastly, a reminder that our FCPS Get to Green teams, this year the board did set aside money to make sure we had teacher leaders in each school so we can really take our Get to Green work right to, dare I say, the grassroots level. And we're also, it's an award-winning interdepartmental environmental stewardship program here and supported by staff and instructional services, facilities and transportation and food and nutrition and we're really excited about adding

[02:02:53] care to share programs as well so a lot going on uh thank you madam chair all right i now call on miss tollen for a motion item 401 financial year 2023 year-end review i call on miss tollen for a motion thank you i move the fairfax county school board approve the revenue and expenditure adjustments as detailed in the agenda item in board docs is there a second a second miss

[02:03:30] pekarski miss tolan would you like to speak to your motion yes thank you our fy23 year-end review was provided to us on july 13th 2023 along with superintendent recommendations as to how the additional funds should be allocated the majority of the fy23 year-end is routine carryover consisting of encumbrances of items that are undelivered at the conclusion of the year.

[02:04:00] So existing POs. Multi-year projects such as textbook adoption funding and FCPS on. School-based funds are subject to automatic carryover representing 10% of the ending balance of selected line items in their individual budgets.

[02:04:19] And we have reserve funds for school board flexibility and fuel contingencies. And we also set aside a modest beginning balance of $25 million to begin FY25. Similar to Fairfax County, FCPS has $127.5 million remaining in unspent expenditures at the FY23 year end.

[02:04:43] As seen in the county carryover document, the county's unspent expenditures for FY23 totaled $1.3, $1.5 million. Increases in carryover are primarily driven by compensation savings due to vacancies.

[02:05:01] Since the pandemic, greater vacancy savings than normal have been experienced due to challenges in retention and recruitment and job market conditions. Other expenditure savings are a result of close monitoring of department and school expenditures throughout this year.

[02:05:17] The $127.5 million is to fund $25 million as a beginning balance to support FY25 and $102.5 million in other superintendent recommendations. Many of those recommendations are items that we had hoped to have in our FY24 approved budget, but when we aligned that with the county and our state funding, we were not able to fund those items, such as enhancing the salary scale for administrators, fine art stipends,

[02:05:50] and additional certified athletic trainers this includes five positions as a part of a the first year of a five-year plan to add trainers to every high school additional items include safety and security pilots the security scanners at selected high schools incentives for substitute teachers additional funds for the hazel mental health teletherapy support replenishment of staffing reserves, funds for inflationary costs, etc. This FY23 year-end is submitted for action tonight.

[02:06:26] Please join me in approval of this item. Thank you. Ms. Bukarski? Nope, I don't think there's anything left to say. I'm good. Thank you. I call on Ms. Corbett Sanders. Thank you, Chair Tolan and Ms.

[02:06:48] Bukarski. I really appreciate the details you've provided tonight. I actually am going to deviate A LITTLE BIT WE KNOW THAT NEXT WEDNESDAY THE GOVERNOR HAS CALLED THE LEGISLATURE BACK TO VOTE ON A LONG-AWAITED BUDGET AND THAT LONG-AWAITED BUDGET HAS BEEN REPORTED IN THE PRESS TO INCLUDE ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR EDUCATION AS WELL AS SUPPOSEDLY ADDRESSING THE -- HOW DO I PUT IT -- THE ACCOUNTING ERROR FOR WON OF A BETTER TERM THAT CAME OUT OF THE

[02:07:26] the end of last year. And I'm hoping that there is, if we can get a bit of an update of what we expect from that session on next Wednesday, where they will adopt this budget, or they're expected to adopt the budget, and how that will impact this year's budget. Are we expecting to have another large amount to address and carry over? Well, at this point, we don't have any detailed information except for the fact that they're meeting in a special session on

[02:08:01] September 6th at 10:00 a.m. typically after decisions are made it takes a few weeks to get the information based on localities from video II so I expect it will be a while before we actually know the impact to FCPS in the event though that we do receive additional funds you know that's something that we certainly will alert the board about and their next opportunity to add those to the fiscal 24 budget is typically mid-year which is in December you know there's

[02:08:40] potential that we could do we can add a first quarter review which we don't usually do if the numbers were so significant that we needed to alert you all much sooner so thank you very much miss burden you're always spot-on and And that is precisely what I was wondering is, I know that we are going to adopt a calendar a little later on this evening, and part of that will be holds for work sessions that haven't been allocated yet.

[02:09:11] But given what I am understanding will happen on Wednesday, we will probably need to have a more detailed look at what the implications are going to be for that budget. Thank you.

[02:09:27] Thank you, Ms. Corbett-Sanders. Ms. Marin. Yes, I just wanted to highlight how thrilled I am to see that the fine arts stipends are in here to get more support and funding to our incredible fine arts teachers who do music performance and others. It's a pathway towards more investment in our educators who we know are working way over their contracted hours. So there is that just under a million dollars as part of this process and there is more to come. So I know that's been eagerly awaiting and I just want to

[02:10:00] celebrate that for a moment. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Marin. Ms. McLaughlin. Thank you. I was hoping, Ms. Burden, in order to provide some clarity for the public, one of the things we know with year-end funds is that it needs to be one-time funding, not recurring funds. And so when it was noted that we're going to use some of the $100 million toward the pay scales, can you explain a bit more detail how that doesn't become recurring no it is recurring you're

[02:10:37] absolutely right and we will build that into the fiscal 25 base to address that and you are also correct that we normally try not to fund anything that's recurring with year-end but this year you know there's some things that we wanted to we wanted to do and we do have funds at year-end to be able to support those initiatives like the Schedule C enhancement and we'll pick it in 25 as a recurring cost thank you so what is the total line item again on

[02:11:08] that one because it's not on the screen 1.8 million 1.8 million so in the 100 million that I just referenced earlier how much of that's gonna end up being recurring because 1.8 is nothing in a 3.5 billion dollar budget but a hundred million is a lot it's the three things that chair Tolan mentioned the schedule C enhancement the fine art stipends and the athletic trainers so the schedule C

[02:11:48] enhancement is what I was was referring to earlier not the 1.8 million so the schedule C enhancements are what's that line item I'm out 1.8 million okay so So $100 million, because you already talked about the $1.8 million.

[02:12:12] So then I said, what are the other ones that are the high cost? Because $100 million is a lot of – so I know that our athletic trainers aren't costing $100 million, and I know that the fine arts stipends aren't costing $100 million.

[02:12:27] So what's recurring that's out of that $100 million? What's recurring is those three things, the Schedule C and the Fine Arts and the Certified Athletic Trainers. The other items are non-recurring.

[02:12:43] Right. So that was my original question. Thank you. I'm sorry if I didn't state it clearly. So of the $100 million, a very tiny amount is going to be recurring, and that is expected to be closer to $3.3 million.

[02:13:00] So 96 million or more is just one-time funding, okay? Now, the other question of clarity that I wanted to check on, as you mentioned, Chair Tolan, that this was presented to us at our business meeting on July 13th, and now this is our next business meeting.

[02:13:21] We did have the summer one-month recess for the board. I would say it would be my hope for future boards that there be a work session. Anytime you're talking about $100 million, I would have been more comfortable for board discussion on that.

[02:13:45] It still has worried me. And Dr. Reed, the question I have for you is, it was mentioned about the county also having a little over $100 million in their carryover too. Are they spending their $100 million in one time needs as well? I think they're still deliberating on how specifically they're going to spend their year-end. I know I speak to County Executive Brian Hill weekly, and one of the things we're still

[02:14:19] waiting on to Ms. Corbett-Sanders' point is the state budget to get a feel for what things might be funded that we want to match. So I don't think the Board of Supervisors have finalized, but Ms. burden perhaps has more current information? Yeah, I think they finalized in September. So that's coming in the next couple weeks. Yeah, I would also say, Chair Tolan, that I hope that the next board might work more closely with the board of supervisors. I mean, if they're not voting until

[02:14:52] September and having deliberations on theirs, I wasn't comfortable when we got this in July 13th saying that we wouldn't have time for board oversight to it, and so, you know, Dr. Reed, I did want to let you know I'll be abstaining tonight simply because the budget is something that, you know, I'm very passionate about, and I will also state for my colleagues, I am very worried based on our prior conversations with our board supervisor partners that the

[02:15:27] The economic forecast is concerning, and we're going into collective bargaining, we're trying to continue to be competitive in the region, and so I wish we'd been able to have maybe more of those longer conversations.

[02:15:45] I, again, completely understand the one-time funding thing, but I think there's, as Ms. Bird noted, any time you use one-time funding for recurring funds, then you build it into the next budget. So I still think we could have had a more meaningful conversation among the board on such a large dollar, and I hope for the next board and for the division that there won't be a look back on this $100 million and think maybe we could have spent it differently.

[02:16:15] So I just wanted you guys to know where my head was at. Thank you, Ms. McLaughlin. Ms. Omeish? Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Ms. Burden, for bringing this. I just wanted to ask a couple of clarifying questions. So I remember the last budget conversation we had, we talked about some of the pieces we weren't able to fully fund when we hadn't known exactly what's coming in the future.

[02:16:38] And we talked about potential use in GEAR-END. I think it was the achievement gap piece, but I just wanted to clarify if I'm missing anything else that was on that list. No, the items that we reduced from the fiscal 24 adopted budget in order to align with the funding levels provided by the county and state those things that we reduced are included in year-end right because we said we're gonna use year-end right I thought there were two things I remember the achievement gap piece and I don't know

[02:17:10] maybe I'm my memories fuzzy but if you can just refresh my recollection give me a second yeah sure were you looking for the teletherapy I don't think it was the teletherapy there were things we couldn't fund because of the projected I guess state shortfall and then we said we're gonna use your end for them and was a bit of a back and forth of we shouldn't you know wait for the achievement gap piece we should

[02:17:43] then it ended up being here um yeah we reduced um in the fiscal 24 adopted budget we took out the retention bonus of one percent that was not in the state's skinny budget and the the county didn't didn't fund our local share either and that was about a 20 million dollar cut and then the as you said the deferral of the achievement gap closing strategies and then this we had set aside a small amount in the approved budget for the compensatory

[02:18:19] services funding and those three items we we funded with your Indian state well compensatory - I thought that was covered with the other money or no that was here - year-end yes all of compensatory services is covered here in year at 30 million yeah okay and then the just to clarify that the retention bonus piece is what you're saying here is the staffing reserve replenishment no I just want to make sure it's reflected no the retention bonus was not included in the state's skinny budget and nor did the county give us you know funds for

[02:18:59] the local piece of it so that's as far as I know that is off the table at this point right so okay those are the three points of discussion from the past okay yeah that's just something of note I think because we had discussed in the work session that that would ultimately reflect itself in year-end and didn't end up making it I think hopefully in the limited time some of us have and then you know longer term for some other colleagues as we discuss the future budget you know those were things we committed to to the community so it's worth revisiting that hopefully Miss Burton we can see how we might you know

[02:19:34] look ahead to fulfilling that in the future. The only other thing I remember raising at the work session was potentially looking at ways year-end could help us with language and translation. I will say again we're at a 98 million glaring basic recurring need for language and translation services per the last assessment. I don't see that reflected here. I don't know if there was an attempt maybe or discussion around seeing how we might allocate anything at all to that I don't know miss burden if that was something that

[02:20:08] was considered yeah that that was not a priority in this year in process okay dr. Reed I hope as we prepare the budget for next year again so I want to say two years ago or so right before you came that you know the language and translation department gave a number about ninety eight million that are that's short on a regular basis for what is needed to fulfill basic language and translation services in our schools and while there's been some improvement you know when we adopted the texting service and whatnot during kovid there's still

[02:20:46] a need for live translators and whatnot so I I'm disappointed to see that it's not reflected in year-end and I really I just need us to feel the sense of urgency that has been deferred year after year in this area so I hope that we can significant you know can offer a significant chunk of discretionary funding for the future budget uh in that area but i appreciate the work that's been done thank you miss mh dr anderson um thank you so much um a couple of quick questions the special

[02:21:22] education compensatory services fund i know that we had talked last time about receiving a brief um is there an update regarding how that it that how that expenditure is going to be allocated more specifically that we can be provided I'm so sorry Ms. Burden and I believe that an update on compensatory services fund is going to be coming to the board very shortly thank you my other question is regarding number two

[02:21:56] the staffing reserve I know that there was there were funds put aside to increase this by 200 positions in order to address student needs and this was the estimation in July now that we have started school do you see any need to make any further adjustments to this number yeah we still believe that we we need to have an adequate reserve even though you know of course we're a little ways into school and we had already depleted the staffing reserve by the

[02:22:32] time that the year-end item was prepared back in July for fiscal 24 so we were down to zero, and so, you know, the 200 positions, if we don't use them, then the funds won't be spent.

[02:22:48] Okay. Thank you. Yeah, I think the other things that I've had have been said, so I don't want to be repetitive. Thank you.

[02:23:03] Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Ms. Corbett-Sanders? Dr. Anderson raised my question regarding the compensatory measures, and I do think it's important that we get a debrief on that earlier rather than later, so I think that's going to be important the other i do want to talk a little bit about the staffing reserve that's 200 positions across the county which seems like a lot but in reality it's on average

[02:23:35] one position per building and um so my question is is that really sufficient is there a need for more um i know that i'm optimistic that we will have more flexibility and more availability of funds um after wednesday and so i would ask that um especially i'm hearing from some of my constituents that they're very concerned about the elementary school class sizes

[02:24:07] and so it would be great to have a briefing or an update in one of your monday letters dr reed on where we're at on that and what the average class size is for our um k through um six uh with the priority on our k through three on having smaller class sizes because we do know that our

[02:24:34] children at younger ages um thrive with those smaller classes thank you thank you miss corbett sanders miss tallard did you want to address something thank you um i i just want to say that WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO THE COMPENSATORY SERVICES REPORT AND IN ADDITION WE'RE LOOKING INTO GETTING OUR NEXT REPORT ON THE ESSER FUNDING AS WELL SO THAT'S NOT INCLUDED IN HERE BUT

[02:25:11] ANOTHER FUNDING ITEM THANK YOU THANK YOU MISS TOLLEN I WILL CALL FOR A VOTE ON THE MOTION WHICH IS ON THE SCREEN ALL THOSE IN FAVOR MS CORBETT SANDERS DR. ANDERSON MS PECKARSKI chair tollen myself uh miss maron uh miss uh seismor heiser all opposed miss omesh all abstaining miss keys gamara the motion passes oh sorry miss mclaughlin and the motion passes you're

[02:25:47] welcome agenda item 4.02 school board liaison and committee assignments i call on mr frisch for a motion thank you i move that the school board approve its school year 2023 2024 liaison and committee assignments. Is there a second? I second. Ms. Maren. Mr. Frisch, would you like to speak to

[02:26:25] your motion? Only that this is in general a housekeeping item and I know the chair put great care and attention into this and appreciate all of our colleagues for participating in this process and look forward to working with everybody in the year ahead. Ms. Maren, would you like to speak to your second? Yeah, I'll just add that like public policy making, this is an art and a science,

[02:26:51] So I appreciate the care that went into it, and it helps us to keep learning about different aspects of our work and being on the board standing committees, the board public committees, and being liaisons to other important committees in the community. Thank you. Thank you.

[02:27:08] Ms. McLaughlin. I just wanted to express my appreciation to both our chair and vice chair. Sometimes this can be extremely difficult when you have 12 board members who have a lot of shared interests in the different assignments.

[02:27:25] And so it really is a Rubik's Cube. You turn it one dial and you might throw it off. And so I felt that the surveys you gave us and the engagement you did with us was extremely helpful. And I, for one, just am very excited about my final four months and my responsibilities that you've given me.

[02:27:46] So thank you. Thank you. Ms. Amesh. Thank you. And I know it's never easy to assign everyone in so many roles. And I do want to thank Ms. Toland for her efforts. I know you spent some time talking to me. And I don't want my stance to be misunderstood at all as a knock on your devotion or hard work by any means.

[02:28:07] And I won't use all my time, but I would like the record to mark my dismay that in this fourth year of putting everything into service of our community with this board. I continue to be the only member with no chairmanships or senior roles. I said something similar about this last year, and I was frankly shocked that it wasn't corrected, and I didn't want to be here saying this tonight.

[02:28:27] I understand others are quick to invalidate this reality when I voice it, but it's hard not to see ageism and perhaps some other form of bias, well-intended or not, in this outcome. I'll reserve my judgment on the matter in an effort to always leave the necessary space for us to come together, but I feel if I don't speak up on this, I'm not being true, and I'm failing our young people.

[02:28:47] I feel obligated because we are a system that exists to serve our youth, to educate and empower them to become leaders and to trailblaze ahead with no limits and despite all the odds others place in front of them. I know our chair truly, and others believe in this as well.

[02:29:02] I don't know what message this sends to them, but I'd like to remind perhaps myself and our young people here and all across our country and county and others that others don't define you, your worth or your contribution, that your value is inherent and that you can and you will.

[02:29:24] Thank you, Ms. Amesh. Seeing no other board members that would wish to speak, I will call for the vote. The motion is on the screen. All those in favor. Ms. Corbett-Sanders, Dr. Anderson, Ms. McLaughlin, Ms. Wacharski, myself, Mr. Frisch, Ms. Marin, and Ms. Rajna Seismerheiser.

[02:29:53] Those opposed, Ms. Amesh. Those abstaining. Ms. Karen Kieskamara, my apologies. Yes. Okay, that motion passes.

[02:30:12] Agenda item 4.03, school board, school year 2023-2024 annual work calendar. I call in Ms. Kieskamara for a motion. Thank you, Madam Chair. I move for the school board to approve our school year 2023-2024 annual work calendar.

[02:30:33] Is there a second? I'll second. Ms. Culver-Sanders, would you like to speak to your motion? Similar to the last motion, this really is a housekeeping motion that allows the members of the board and the public to be able to plan for board activities.

[02:30:56] I welcome the conversations that have taken place about the timing of meetings and the necessity for some of our holds on various meetings and the commitment from the chair and vice chair to provide a two-week release of any work sessions that are currently on hold that will not be used.

[02:31:24] Ms. Karski, would you like to speak to your second? No, I think it's straightforward. Thank you. Dr. Anderson. Yes, thank you. Just very quickly, I just wanted to raise a couple of things that I shared with you.

[02:31:43] I do see that there's been a change already of the retreat days to be coupled or to be converted to work sessions, so thank you. Very much appreciate that. The other thing that I wanted to raise primarily for discussion so that we don't forget this is our ongoing conversation about changing the cadence of the committee reports, the advisory committee reports, because right now the calendar places them at the end of the year, May and June, not just this calendar, but every calendar before this. And that does not really allow us the

[02:32:17] flexibility to respond to it in a timely manner in our budget process. So I just want to be sure that to elevate that so as we're moving forward we put some intentional activities around including that in a different way in future calendars and I also wanted to raise one last thing that I'm hoping we can we have the flexibility even after this vote to address which is March 5th that is a presidential primary day and it's one of our all-day work sessions so I want to make sure that we can make some adjustments there so if I can just

[02:32:56] respond to those thank you Dr. Anderson I do want to point out to board members that the reports from most of our advisory committees are currently available the staff reports responding to what we heard from the advisory committees are now available um so please make sure you take a look at those and we are looking to our PEC committee this year to be finalizing some information around advisory committees and how those advisory committees will be working as we move forward some of the work that you started in the PEC committee this year and even last year probably so we're looking for that work

[02:33:35] to continue this fall and that the comments that you've made I think will be included there in addition we are looking overall at the policy government governance calendar moving forward to see if there what flexibility we have around that March 5th date and we'll be getting back to board members on that. Okay seeing no other board members that would like to speak. Oh I'm sorry Ms. Keys Camaro. Thank you. I do want to just and I know we were all here where we had Ms. Hanley

[02:34:15] come and speak to us regarding the scheduling of meetings or schools being open when we're having voting in our schools and so I'm hoping we can look at that as a matter of policy. I do think it is a safety concern and it's also difficult to participate in the democratic process if we're in a work session just saying all right thank you thank you we appreciate that and Dr. Reed did I miss it did you make an announcement about March 5th we wanted to make sure we visited with our

[02:34:51] association leadership first in terms of defining where we were going to work from so my plan to make an announcement September 14th on that okay so that we have all the relevant details connected to that date thank you thank you okay seeing no other board members that would like to speak I will call for the vote the motion is on the screen all those in favor of accepting the calendar please raise your hand okay it looks like that is unanimous with Miss Cohen and Mr.

[02:35:30] Koufax away from the table thank you agenda item 4.04 policy 2611 without objection from board members we will refer action item 4.04 policy 2611 to the board's governance committee just by way of a little bit of background for board members here too and we've had a couple of members of our governance committee ask for some additional time to take a look at this policy and review that within the governance committee are there any board members that would

[02:36:09] like to speak to this or any objection okay seeing none action item 4.04 is referred action item 5 consent agenda our adopted rules of parliamentary procedure roberts rules provide for a consent agenda listing several items for approval of the board by a single motion many items listed have gone through board review and documentation has been provided to all board members and the public in advance items may be removed from the consent agenda at the request of any board member prior to

[02:36:47] the meeting the consent agenda items are on the screen is there any objection to approving the consent agenda okay hearing a scene no objection the consent agenda is approved item number six new business the following are new business agenda items there will not be a vote on these items this evening but action is scheduled at a future meeting the new business items are scrolling on

[02:37:18] our screen number seven board committee reports there are no committee reports to present this evening number eight board matters next on the agenda is board matters and i call on miss colbert sanders yes thank you madam chair i will try to be brief given that it is 10 after 10 already i do want to thank all of our parents and teachers and building administrators that have made the opening of schools this year pretty seamless.

[02:37:56] And so Dr. Reed, thank you as well and your team because it really has been a joy-filled couple of weeks. I also want to thank our parents associations, our parent-teacher associations and organizations for the work that they are putting into our back-to-school nights.

[02:38:19] The ones that I have been part of have been very positive and it's just been great as well as our boosters who are already hitting the ground running in support of our athletic teams as well as our arts groups and I know that we will be having the tag days coming up and so I encourage everybody in the community to support the students who

[02:38:52] are looking to supplement the amount of funding that comes from our school system to make sure that we can continue to have the robust arts and athletic programs that we have finally i want to talk a little bit and thank the community members that have been so incredibly generous in our back to school backpack programs it has been absolutely amazing when I participated in

[02:39:26] the Lorton program a couple of weeks ago the goal had initially been to get to 200 backpacks and I think we exceeded that and every single backpack was given away in the first hour and community members leaned in and provided additional resources to supervisor stork's team on the ground so i am very appreciative and i'm appreciative of dr reed for her activities and going out and actually visiting with the communities on these

[02:40:02] important days where it's a little before our kids started back at school but the energy and the excitement was just incredible and we could not have done that without the nonprofits being part of our part of our team finally I want to give a shout out and a thank you to the region 3 team for their nimbleness in addressing some very late resignations of principals in our area because they were being

[02:40:37] attracted to neighboring jurisdictions and so the team was very nimble in getting community conversations going soliciting input and having those panels we've hired somebody at both Fort Hunt Elementary as well as Walt Whitman we know that there should be announcements coming forward soon with two additional schools being Bryant and West Potomac and so just want to thank that team for

[02:41:14] their hard work and that's it Dr. Anderson thank you I too want to welcome everyone back to school it has been an exciting start in the Mason district we've had many successful open house events across the area and it was really wonderful to see all of our students coming back and being so excited I was at an open house yesterday last last evening and this young man came out and

[02:41:52] he says he knows it all now he's ready to go Mike okay go for it and his mother could not wait for him to tell her all of what he knows when they got home so a big thank you to our teachers to our administrators our bus drivers our custodians office staff and the central office folks who really are making the trains run on time although I do recognize we have a few more bus issues to handle such as some bus delays as well as some second run buses or double backs but I think I'm hoping those will be resolved in short order also want to

[02:42:28] say thank you to our PTAs and PTOs for all of their work in ensuring that our staffs were welcome back into their buildings I look forward to continuing to attend more back-to-school events in the coming weeks and it was very nice last week to see the beautiful turf field at Falls Church High School. It was really wonderful because we know that our parents have been very concerned about its installation and were concerned that the first football game was not going to be able to happen and staff was able to kick it up into extra

[02:43:04] gear to make that occur. So thank you. Mr. Fanshawe, thank you because I think you were still leading that activity even though you've been divorced now from that office. Yes. Super excited that my middle schooler brought home her athletic participation form last week that I am still busy signing because she will be running cross-country.

[02:43:33] So very excited for that to happen. So looking forward to having those programs grow. I do want to say thank you to the Glasgow community for attending the first of the two boundary scoping meetings just this past Tuesday it was a very engaged and robust community so thank you for your time for those of you who are not able to attend please participate on Monday the 11th at 6:30 and the virtual virtual option of the meeting registration is required so please find the information either in my newsletter or on the website and if you are not able to find it

[02:44:11] please reach out to the to the office and reach out to me directly as well I do want to offer a reminder for all of the parents there's a lot of paperwork you need to complete at the beginning of the year I know staff is eagerly awaiting all of those signed SR&R forms all of the emergency care forms all of the inhaler authorization forms so please take this as a reminder during this long weekend to complete those as well as the digital allowance form I can't remember what that's called I also want to offer the parents a reminder to also

[02:44:47] sign up for a light speed relay to track your students digital activity on their FCPS laptops I heard from many folks at the meeting on Tuesday that they did not know that this was an option. So I want to be sure that that is promoted because it's a very important tool that I myself have been using for the past two years. So thank you and have a good night all. Ms. McLaughlin. My remarks will be short and sweet. Dr. Reed, your team, kudos. Bravo.

[02:45:20] Well done. I didn't get hardly any emails of any consequence and what did come up, people were able to refer right to your team and I've just mostly heard great things so well done it was seemed to be smooth sailing overall and most importantly you just have a team that is being very quick and very responsive to our families and I will just reiterate we know value appreciate and recognize partnering with our parents is everything for student success and your team is emulating that

[02:45:54] so thank you thank you happy back to school everyone it has been an extremely extremely busy time in my household but everybody was happy and extremely tired when they came home which I always love because I know they're working hard in school so thank you to the teachers to everyone who makes it happen and it it is very difficult to get all those kids where they need to be in the right classes on the buses that run on time so I'm very appreciative for that thank you

[02:46:33] to the parents who reached out to me over the summer I had the opportunity to have quite a few meetings with folks and it was nice to be able to do that when you know there wasn't as much pressure during the year and people really took advantage of that and I'm thankful for that and I wanted to say that. And also I've already started attending you know the football scrimmages some cross-country stuff so looking forward to all our fall sports and you know getting out there and the back-to-school nights of course if you

[02:47:10] see me please come introduce yourself and say hello it's gonna be a busy fall so thank you. Ms. Keyes Gamera. Thank you. I will be brief. I want to thank, welcome everybody back to school. I actually had a wonderful first day myself in joining, going to some of our sites and my favorite part was standing on the sidewalk and greeting the Kiss and Ride parents who were anxiously awaiting their children it was it was it was a hallmark movie and uh just joy just joy

[02:47:50] everywhere and the kids were so excited and it was wonderful when people came and actually said oh yeah miss keys gamara good to see you and i was like i'm glad you noticed at any rate it was a pleasure to be there um looking forward to more back to school nights and football games i was trying to go to one but it rained profusely so there will be more but at any rate everybody enjoy labor day weekend and uh that's it thanks baron thank you i've enjoyed visiting uh very many schools and including two community events one at south lakes high school one at madison high school

[02:48:30] and just hearing about how school's going in the first two weeks from parents and families and students and overall it seems to be going smoothly a common theme i hear is about class size concern especially in elementary school and I've been trying to share information about the challenges given the national teacher shortage and the shortage here in our community and you know also there is that study that the General Assembly released this summer showing that the funding formula and structures are not adequately funding what we need so I'm very eager for more to come from that but it is a concern and I agree if I could do anything to

[02:49:06] improve learning it would be to decrease class size safety is also a concern and I see our staff doing really great things to address it including dismissal procedures and arrival procedures so I'm really happy about that as a parent I did spend my first day after getting my second kiddo off just exhaling at the bus stop with some fellow parents and you know I also want to keep focusing and help the community keep focusing on the positivity that we need to uphold for our students to be successful and our staff and it's tough when we have public conversations about public education in our schools and it's one way sometimes

[02:49:45] it feels like coming from the public and I do just wish that more people would stay through the meeting to hear all of the data and the things that are happening because there's a lot of hard work going on in our schools and our students are learning and they are achieving and there's room to grow but But there are very good things happening in our schools.

[02:50:01] And so I just hope it continues throughout the fall and have a great holiday weekend. Ms. Amesh. Yeah. Thank you. I want to take a moment to welcome Rida Karim to our board. I didn't have the chance to do that last time. And I appreciated a number of the points you elevated today, especially about free lunch and making sure all of our students are accessing school in a way that makes them feel included and are seen through intentional efforts from the division.

[02:50:28] I'm glad to also hear that the salad bars are back. look forward to working with staff to further expand cultural food access and other initiatives. I also wanted to acknowledge the advocacy from Ms. Smith today who spoke about the importance of supporting executive functioning skills at the elementary school level. Dr. Reed I'm sure that your team already has this in mind and we'll be looking into it further. Obviously these two past weeks have been filled with excitement as families and homes across the county are filled with joy and nervous excitement with the new school year kicking off and as parents students and teachers find a routine of course we all quickly realize we need a

[02:51:06] break so a good thing we have Labor Day weekend coming ahead which is an annual celebration of course of the social and economic achievements of American workers rooted in the 19th century when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America's strength prosperity and well-being so thank you to all our teachers bus drivers genders administrators and everyone up and down our system for all your hard work. I also wanted to acknowledge that today is overdose awareness day and of course we know that drugs do continue to plague our communities so as kids go back to school let's make sure we're approaching this as the health crisis that it is and raise awareness that we still have

[02:51:45] limited facilities for rehab of our teens in particular in our county. It's also timely for me to take a moment given our approval earlier of our participation in a lawsuit to combat social media addiction that sometimes social media itself is pro is set up with algorithms that are meant to keep kids addicted so let's ensure we keep talking about healthy social media use and ensure our young people are developing healthy habits as they grow into adults finally it's worth celebrating that a number of our high schools were ranked as some of our top schools in Virginia and across the

[02:52:20] country and I wanted to make sure I clear up that I know there there was an article written about TJ being the fifth best in the nation of course something no doubt to celebrate especially when they're at that top level ranking in the top 500 nationally which also included Fairfax, McLean, Langley, Oakton, Marshall and Falls Church and Woodson but no doubt keeping in mind that actually that was based on data that was before the the admissions improvements that were made so just keeping in mind that we live in a community that is proud of such

[02:52:55] an excelling school system and kids who work really hard to do their best every day. So with that, thank you again to all our staff, hopefully we can celebrate all of you this weekend and enjoy the holiday, everyone. Good night.

[02:53:12] Thank you, Mr. Prush. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to take an opportunity to thank our dedicated staff and administrators for an amazingly safe and successful first nine days of school. Congratulations on a job well done.

[02:53:28] Although many students, teachers, parents, caregivers, and administrators no doubt agree that the summer break was a bit short, it's been rejuvenating to see all of the students happily back together for the smooth transition to the school year.

[02:53:44] As a reward, they have earned a well-deserved, long Labor Day holiday weekend. To that end, like Ms. Omeesh, I would like to wish our hardworking teachers and staff a very happy labor day a day when we honor our nation's workers and recognize all that they contribute to the well-being of our community and our country before the start of the school year i had an opportunity to see their hard work up close and personal visiting open houses at freedom hill mantua timber lane and westgate elementary schools i had a blast uh handing out

[02:54:17] school supplies, backpacks, and popsicles, and talking with so many families. On the first day of school, I also visited Mosaic and Fair Hill Elementary Schools with Superintendent Reed to greet students and staff. I am always grateful to be on hand and witness the great enthusiasm among our district's youngest learners, as well as the strong dedication of our teachers, administrators, librarians, and other staff. I do want to offer some extra praise for our custodians each of the schools I visited over the last two weeks have been absolutely immaculate I heard many families commenting on this as I

[02:54:53] visited and staff as well our staff students and their families have a lot to be excited about from greater access to preschools for children to our new and improved salad bars in many schools I am looking forward to the start of the fall athletic season I commend our student-athletes for their hard work and dedication to their teammates and wish them all the best of luck for a winning season so long as they are schools in Providence District. I am also looking forward to the amazing theater orchestra band and choral performances later this year. Our students in FCPS are a joyful

[02:55:33] inspiration to watch. I'd like to end with excitement that the start of the new school year our division is officially being guided by the new 2023-2030 strategic plan. This student-centered plan serves as a north star for how our teachers and staff will continue to ensure excellence, equity, and opportunity for each and every student. I'm looking forward to the year ahead and to all that our students achieve. Thank you. Thank you. Just some important Doreensville information.

[02:56:07] Kent Gardens Elementary School Boundary Study Meetings will be held in September. Our in-person meeting will be September 19th from 6 to 730 in the McLean High School Cafeteria. No registration is needed for that meeting.

[02:56:23] Please spread the word. The virtual meeting and these meetings have the same agenda, so attend the one that fits for you. the virtual meeting will be September 26th from 6 to 7 30 and pre-registration is required for that one. A huge huge thank you to our PTAs. I've seen them out at every back to school night that I've been to and I would look forward to our Drainsville PTA leaders quarterly meetings that will be starting soon. A huge shout out to Area 4 transportation staff. Area 4 was the lucky area

[02:56:58] last year to have lots of issues with our transportation and this year we've had very very few issues and the ones we've had the transportation staff has taken care of most of them very very quickly. Thank you, thank you. I was able to visit many of the schools before school even started with our open houses and lots and lots of exciting things were going on.

[02:57:22] I wanted to call out some really fun things at Dranesville Elementary School. We have a new reading this fundamental partnership that was actually set up with help from my staff aide, Wendy Billeter, and everyone was super excited about that. The first day of school, as Dr. Reed mentioned, we were at Herndon High School at 445 in the morning along with the band, and then Senior Sunrise happened shortly after that. I was at Langley High School for arrival, which went

[02:57:56] very smoothly great falls elementary school for lunch where i um saw two retired teachers that retired at the end of last year that both of whom my current 30 year old son had when he attended great falls elementary school and they were both back to volunteer in the lunchroom cafeteria on the first day of school so thank you for that dedication um the forestville elementary school dismissal went very very well with the buses and kiss and ride even on the first day um and as far

[02:58:31] as back to school nights i've been to many of those i um with dr reed was able to observe longfellow middle schools um back to school night and just the incredible work that they're doing there on mathematics and their all-school avid program really exceptional um kent gardens i was there last night and it was really striking there is and we have this across many of our schools the international families we had families from england australia belgium france and on the families from belgium and france were especially excited about their children's

[02:59:06] participation in the french immersion program um looking forward to a wonderful long weekend AND WISH EVERYONE A FABULOUS LONG WEEKEND. WE ALL DESERVE IT. THANK YOU TO OUR STAFF.

[02:59:22] MS. SEISMER-HEISER, THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US THIS EVENING. AND SHE'S NOT FEELING WELL, SO WE WILL NOT BE HEARING BOARD MATTERS FROM HER THIS EVENING. THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO EVERYONE. THIS MEETING IS ADJOURNED.

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